Washington is planning to stockpile its nuclear arsenal and Mike Pence suggested the US is ditching the disarmament ambitions of the Obama administration.
The vice-president said: “You can be assured that our administration is committed to strengthen and modernise America’s nuclear deterrent.
“History attests the surest path to peace is through American strength.
“There’s no greater element of American strength, there’s no greater force for peace in the world than the United States nuclear arsenal.”
Mr Pence was speaking during a visit to the Minot air force base in North Dakota in a speech that signals an increase in US nuclear armaments as World War 3 tensions increase thanks to North Korea’s threats of nuclear annihilation.
Speaking at a meeting on nuclear threats organised by the Ploughshares Fund, Christopher Ford, the special assistant to the president on weapons of mass destruction stated an end to prior post-cold war military methods.
He stated: “The traditional post-cold war approach of seeking to demonstrate disarmament bona fides by showing steady numerical movement towards elimination, while trying to avoid steps that could actually undermine US national security, has largely run its course and is no longer tenable, especially given evolving security conditions.
“So it’s time to explore alternative approaches – and we are.”
The Trump administration is working on a new policy entitled Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that was initially presented in September at a White House meeting.
The exact details of the initiative are still being debated – the policy is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 to the start of 2018.
According to The Guardian, sources that have been briefed on the NPR so far have stated that it includes the creation of a low-yield warhead for a ballistic missile, bringing back nuclear Tomahawk missiles, reducing the time needed for US nuclear testing and a relaxation of constraints adopted by the Obama administration.
Mr Obama’s NPR pledged that the US would only use nuclear weapons in “extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners”.
The creation of a low-yield warhead is reported to be a deterrent against a use of nuclear arms by Russia in the Baltic states.
The new military stance is also surely a countermeasure to the increased military threats by despot leader Kim Jong-un.
Any changes to the US’ military stance would have to be approved by Congress.
The war of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un has increased recently after North Korea called Donald Trump “mentally ill” in a stream of propaganda delivered to South Korea.
The rogue nation delivered its deluge of insults via balloons sent across the Korea Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).
The fliers dropped into the South Korean capital of Seoul labelled the President “mentally ill” and a “dotard”.
The juvenile tactics employed by despot leader Kim Jong-un are seen as a possible response to comments made by Trump who referred to the leader as “rocket man”.