... Prez calling it as he sees it
President Barack Obama said
suggestions from people like Republican presidential candidate Donald
Trump that Japan and South Korea show a lack of knowledge about foreign
policy, nuclear policy and the Korean Peninsula
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President Barack Obama said suggestions from people like Donald Trump that Japan and South Korea show a lack of knowledge about foreign policy
He said that they also show lack of knowledge on nuclear policy, the Korean Peninsula and 'the world generally'
Trump said earlier this week that Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to North Korea
Continue after the cut .... Obama noted that Trump's comments came up during discussions with leaders at the nuclear summit in Washington
Obama's comments come just a day after a White House deputy national security adviser said that Trump's proposal was 'catastrophic'
President Barack Obama took a shot at Donald Trump on Friday, saying suggestions
from people like the GOP frontrunner that South Korea and Japan should
develop nuclear weapons show a lack of understanding of the world.
He said that they show a lack of knowledge about foreign policy, nuclear policy and the Korean Peninsula.
Obama
was asked about the issue Friday night after Trump said Japan and South
Korea should develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to North Korea
Trump said earlier this week that Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to North Korea
The
president said the United States doesn't want someone in the Oval Office
who doesn't recognize the potential trouble in such a development.
'[The
statements] tell us that the person who made the statements doesn't
know much about foreign policy, nuclear policy, the Korean peninsula or
the world generally,' Obama said at the press conference. 'I said
before, people pay attention to American elections.'
Obama noted that Trump's comments came up during discussions with leaders at the nuclear summit in Washington.
He
said that even countries that are used to a 'carnival atmosphere' in
their politics want 'sobriety and clarity' in US elections.
Trump has made several remarks about nuclear weapons lately, even claiming he would not rule out using nuclear bombs in Europe.
Obama noted that Trump's comments came up during discussions with leaders at the nuclear summit in Washington
Obama's
comments come just a day after White House Deputy National Security
Adviser Ben Rhodes said that Trump's proposal for Japan and South Korea
to have nuclear weapons would be 'catastrophic' for US policy.
'The
entire premise of American foreign policy as it relates to nuclear
weapons for the last 70 years has been focused on preventing the
proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional states,' Rhodes said on
Thursday. 'That's been the position of bipartisan administrations,
everybody who has occupied the Oval Office.'
Trump said at a CNN town hall on Tuesday that the United States 'can't afford' to protect countries like Japan.
'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,' Rhodes said, according to ABC.
Obama
discussed Trump's proposal at a press conference on Friday at the
conclusion of a nuclear security summit, where he met with more than 50
leaders to discuss nuclear security.
Obama discussed Trump's proposal at a
press conference on Friday at the conclusion of a nuclear security
summit, where he met with more than 50 leaders to discuss nuclear
security
He
also said at the press conference that the United States and Russia are
unlikely to further reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons during
the remainder of his presidency.
He
did say, however, that he believes the two countries have put systems
in place that will allow for more reductions in the future.
At
the close of a nuclear security summit, Obama said that Russian
President Vladimir Putin has emphasized 'military might' instead of
disarmament, but Obama believes there are still possibilities for
progress.
In the meantime, Obama said the world must guard against the proliferation of new, deadlier nuclear weapons.
The president is crediting the United States and Russia with abiding by a bilateral arms reduction treaty.
He said he's tried to strike the right balance between arms reduction and preserving US nuclear weapons capabilities.
During the press conference Obama also
discussed Russia, drones killing civilians, repression in Turkey and
doing business in Iran
As for the world's work to prevent nuclear attacks, Obama said the task is 'by no means finished'.
He said world leaders have made 'significant, meaningful progress' in securing nuclear materials so terrorists can't get them.
But,
he said, there is still a large amount of nuclear and radioactive
material that must be secured, adding that in some countries, the
nuclear arsenal is expanding.
Obama
said the dozens of leaders attending the summit agreed to keep
strengthening nuclear facilities against cyber-attacks and to bolster
defenses against nuclear smuggling.
The
work has just begun, Obama said, adding that the vision of preventing
the spread of nuclear weapons may not happen in his lifetime.
Also at the press conference, Obama mentioned drones, Turkey and doing business in Iran.
The press conference came after Obama hosted the two-day Nuclear Secruity Summit in Washington, DC this week
Obama
acknowledged that 'civilians have been killed that shouldn't have been'
in past US drone strikes, but says the administration is now 'very
cautious' about taking strikes where women or children are present.
Asked
at the news conference about an increase in the number of people
targeted in several drone strikes against extremist targets in Libya,
Syria and Somalia, Obama said the 'legal architecture' around the use of
drone strikes in the past hasn't been precise.
But in the last several years, he said, the administration has worked hard to prevent civilian deaths.
He added that the United States has to take responsibility when it is not acting appropriately.
The
president moved on to Turkey, and said he has been troubled by the
country's repression of the press and democratic debate under President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Still,
he says Turkey is a NATO ally and an important partner in fighting
terrorism. Further, Obama said he has a productive partnership with
Erdogan.
Obama
has, however, spoken openly with Erdogan about trends in Turkey that he
calls troubling, particularly in regard to freedom of the press,
religion and democracy.
Erdogan was among the 50-some world leaders who joined Obama at a nuclear security summit in Washington.
As
for Iran, Obama said the country has to convince international
companies that it is safe to do business there as it gains relief from
sanctions by complying with the nuclear deal.
US President Barack Obama (center)
speaks as (L-R) Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Nigeria's President
Muhammadu Buhari, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, Lithuania's
President Dalia Grybauskaite, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
look on during the closing session of the Nuclear Security Summit at
the Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Obama
he said that the United States and its partners in the nuclear deal
need to clarify what business transactions are allowed as the sanctions
are lifted.
He added that the Iranians thus far have adhered to the letter of the nuclear agreement.
Iran
is, however, flouting the agreement's spirit, Obama said, by doing
things like testing ballistic missiles marked with slogans calling for
the destruction of Israel, which shakes the confidence of international
companies that might otherwise want to do business with the nation.
Earlier on Friday, Obama spoke of the threat of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands, such as those of ISIS terrorists.
The
President said no terrorist group had succeeded in getting hold of
making a dirty bomb, but said al-Qaeda wanted to and ISIS had already
used chemical weapons in the Middle East.
He
said there was no doubt that if ISIS 'mad men' got a nuclear bomb, they
would use it to kill as many people as possible. Obama gave a chilling
warning that such a catastrophic disaster would 'change our world'.
'We
have measurably reduced the risk,' Obama said. But he added: 'The
threat of nuclear terrorism persists and continues to evolve.'
And he warned that as ISIS comes under greater pressure it will likely carry out more attacks elsewhere.
'As
ISIL is squeezed in Syria and Iraq, we can anticipate it lashing out
elsewhere, as we've seen most recently and tragically in countries from
Turkey to Brussels,' Obama said - using another acronym for ISIS.
Despite
Obama's warnings - and his hi-jinks during the photograph with other
world leaders - Donald Trump's earlier comments on nuclear weapons cast a
shadow over the summit.
The
Republican presidential candidate said this week that allowing Saudi
Arabia, South Korea and Japan to develop their own nuclear programs
would ease strains on US budgets, given the spiraling costs of
maintaining America's nuclear umbrella and foreign troop deployments.
'Japan is better if it protects itself against this maniac of North Korea,' Trump said on Tuesday.
'We
are better off frankly if South Korea is going to start protecting
itself ... they have to protect themselves or they have to pay us.'
In
the wake of terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris, security officials
have raised concerns that the next attack could spread cancer-causing
substances across a wide swath of a Western city, wreaking havoc and
triggering evacuations.
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