President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that his “first order” as president was “to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal.” But it wasn’t — that was his thirteenth order.
Trump warned Tuesday that he would unleash “fire and fury” against North Korea if it continued to threaten the United States. He continued his strong language Wednesday when he tweeted that the US nuclear arsenal is “far stronger and more powerful than ever before.”
In those tweets, he incorrectly stated that reviewing the nuclear arsenal was at the top of his to-do list when he took office.
Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the Defense Department to launch a review of US nuclear posture and strategy on January 27 — seven days after he took office and 12 times after he had wielded his presidential pen elsewhere.
These memos and executive orders came before Trump signed the nuclear arsenal directive:
Trump signed the Nuclear Posture Review on January 27.