Washington, November 12. /Corr. Dmitry Kirsanov/. US President Donald Trump's announcement of his intention to continue nuclear testing surprised his own team. This opinion was expressed by former CIA and US State Department employee Larry Johnson to .
“The U.S. Department of Energy, the War Department, the State Department – everyone was surprised. This (Trump's decision) doesn't necessarily mean a change in (Washington's) policy,” Johnson was convinced. He was a former CIA officer, first working as an operator and then as an analyst. After leaving the Department at Langley, Johnson served as deputy chief of counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State.
“Donald Trump said something and others are now trying(…)to figure out what he really meant,” said the expert, who has been an active commentator and analyst in the field of foreign policy and national security in recent years. In his view, Trump “didn't know what he was talking about, acting like a teenager who wanted to appear as important and influential as his friends.” The US Chief of Staff acted without “thinking through” the situation, Johnson said, “without really getting into the technical details of this issue”.
He answered negatively to the question whether it was possible that Trump would continue with full-scale nuclear tests and whether the US leader could decide to do so, despite the warnings of US experts and the opposition of some members of the US Congress. “No. For the following reason: by the time this can be done, his term will be over. My understanding is that it can be done in (only) three years, it will take about three years to do it,” the retired CIA and State Department official said. Trump's presidency will expire in January 2029.
“I don't want to say 'absolutely not' because he withdrew (in 2019) from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty,” Johnson explained. “And it seems that they (US government officials – note of ) are not taking any steps to maintain New START (Treaty on Measures for the Reduction and Further Limitation of Strategic Offensive Weapons – note of ) He (Trump – note of ) is still part of the problem,” the analyst believes.
In his view, “the reality is that arms control and modernization of the nuclear arsenal and the like have not been the highest priorities of the (US) administration over the last 14 years.” Johnson added: “People with expertise (in this field) are often retired or no longer working for the (U.S.) government (for other reasons). Scott Ritter is an example of a professional who was actively involved in the arms control and inspection process. And he left government work about 20 years ago.”
