A senior U.S. military official said Thursday that he would launch a nuclear strike against China next week if President Trump ordered it.
“The answer would be: yes,” said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, in response to a hypothetical question from an academic at an Australian National University security conference in Canberra.
He also warned against the military ever shifting its allegiance from Trump, its commander in chief.
“Every member of the U.S. military has sworn an oath to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as commander and chief appointed over us,” Swift said.
“This is core to the American democracy and any time you have a military that is moving away from a focus and an allegiance to civilian control, then we really have a significant problem,” he added.
His remarks came after a joint U.S.- Australian military exercise off the Australian coast, and after Trump tweeted that the U.S. military wouldn't allow transgender troops "in any capacity." The tweet is an apparent rejection of about 6,000 trans troops and the Obama-era policy that embraced them.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Charlie Brown later said that Swift’s answer reaffirmed the principle of civilian control over the military.
“The admiral was not addressing the premise of the question, he was addressing the principle of civilian authority of the military,” Brown said. “The premise of the question was ridiculous.”
The statements came amid tensions between the United States and China over North Korea's nuclear program.
Trump suggested earlier this month that the U.S. might not work with Beijing, an ally of Pyongyang, to curb escalating nuclear tensions with the North.
It came after North Korea tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile , marking a breakthrough in its mission to develop a weapon that could reach the United States.
"Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter," Trump tweeted on July 5. "So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!"
Earlier that week, Trump tweeted: "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"
The U.S. Pacific Fleet consists of about 200 ships and submarines, almost 1,100 aircraft, and over 130,000 sailors and civilian staff.
The biennial Talisman Saber exercise involved 36 warships including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, 220 aircraft and 33,000 military personnel.
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