Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday denied an Axios report that he wanted to drop nuclear bombs on hurricanes before they made landfall in the United States, calling it “ridiculous”.
During a briefing, Trump asked if it would be possible to disrupt hurricanes forming off the coast of Africa by dropping a nuclear bomb in the eye of the storm, a report on the Axios website said on Sunday.
According to an anonymous source, the news website said that attendees left the hurricane briefing thinking, “What do we do with this?” Axios did not say when this conversation took place.
But Trump slammed the story, calling it “fake news,” in his latest swipe at the media. “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.
The White House declined to comment on the report earlier, but Axios quoted a senior administration official as saying Trump's “objective is not bad.”
Axios said the president had previously made a similar suggestion in a 2017 conversation, asking a senior official whether the administration should bomb hurricanes to prevent them making landfall.
Trump did not specify in 2017 that nuclear bombs be used. The idea of bombing hurricanes is not a new one.
