A national security expert went on a Twitter rant against Trump's nuclear weapons position
A foreign policy expert heard Trump question the US's long-standing policy to avoid using nuclear weapons, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough reported on Wednesday.
Trump reportedly asked about nuclear weapons three times, saying at one point: 'If we have them, why can't we use them?"
Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, later declared that Scarborough's story was "absolutely not true."
But Trump's willingness to embrace the idea of nuclear weapons has long raised concerns among national security experts. Although Trump has said at times he is horrified by nuclear weapons, he has also refused to take the possibility of using them against various enemies off the table.
John Noonan, who advised both Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney on national security, has himself been criticized for espousing what some say are aggressive views on nuclear weapons. The Institute for Policy Studies characterized Noonan as part of the "hawkish extreme" of the Republican party.
Noonan pointed out on Twitter that if Trump is really willing to use nuclear weapons, he's disregarding over half a century of national security wisdom.
He also suggested that Trump's combative personality would make him too dangerous a figure to hold the keys to nuclear power - an attack line often used by Hillary Clinton and Democrats.
Here's the full tweetstorm:
In the case of an attack, American presidents have just minutes to decide whether to unleash nuclear power on other countries.
Trump's proposals to torture enemies and kill their families have raised questions about whether the military could legally refuse to follow his orders if they constitute war crimes.