Donald Trump: proposal called catastrophic

The White House on Thursday slammed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s proposal to allow Japan and South Korea to gain nuclear weapons as “catastrophic”.

“The entire premise of American foreign policy on nuclear weapons for the last 70 years is to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional states,” said White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes here at the Nuclear Security Summit.

“Frankly it would be catastrophic were the United States to shift its position and indicate that we support somehow the proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional countries,” said Rhodes.

In an interview with the New York Times last Friday on his foreign policy plans, Trump suggested that if elected, he would be “open” to encourage Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear arsenals in order to reduce pressure on the United States to offer the two the nuclear umbrella.

The Times quoted Trump as saying that with the United States becoming a diluted power, “they (Japan and South Korea) are going to want to have that anyway.”

Calling Trump’s remarks “not particularly relevant to serious discussions,” Rhodes said Trump’s suggestion went against “decades of bipartisan national security doctrine.”