WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump denied a report that he suggested two years ago an attempt to thwart hurricanes approaching the United States using nuclear bombs.
Axios had reported on Sunday quoting sources that Trump made the remarks during a hurricane briefing by senior Homeland Security and national security officials at the White House in 2017.
The US news website cited sources 'who heard the president's private remarks and been briefed on a National Security Council memorandum that recorded those comments.'
But Trump refuted the news on Twitter Monday. 'The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous'. 'I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS,' he tweeted.
Axios published the relevant part of the source paraphrasing the president's remarks: 'I got it. I got it. Why don't we nuke them?. They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?'.
'Sir, we'll look into that,' was the briefer's reply, Axios reported, quoting the source.
At the same time, the officials left the meeting thinking, 'What do we do with this?' according to the anonymous source.
Trump also said to have asked how many hurricanes the U.S. could handle.
A 2017 National Security Council memo also mentions Trump raising the idea of bombing the hurricanes in a discussion with a senior administration official, Axios quoted the source as saying.
Trump reportedly floated the idea of bombing the hurricanes in the early stage of his presidency, before John Bolton became National Security Adviser.
The idea is not new. It dates back to the 1950s, when a government scientist mooted the idea to President Dwight Eisenhower.
However, it is not a good idea, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
'During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms,' the NOAA said on a page dedicated to the concept.
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