Administration

Poll: 60 percent don’t trust Trump with authority to order nuclear attacks

by Rebecca Savransky 01/23/18 08:10 AM ET

A majority of Americans doesn’t trust President Trump with the authority to order nuclear attacks on other countries, according to a new poll.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll finds 60 percent of respondents don’t trust Trump with the authority.

Just 38 percent say they do trust the president to handle the authority to launch nuclear attacks on other countries.

The poll also finds that 52 percent of the public is worried that Trump will launch a nuclear attack without justification. That includes about one-third of respondents who say they are “very” concerned.

The poll, conducted from Jan. 15-18 among 1,005 adults, has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Trump over the past year has escalated his rhetoric against North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear development and ballistic missile program.

Earlier this month, however, Trump told South Korea’s leader that he’s open to direct talks with North Korea over its nuclear program.

“President Trump expressed his openness to holding talks between the United States and North Korea at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances,” the White House said in a statement detailing Trump’s phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

At the same time, the leaders stressed “the importance of continuing the maximum pressure campaign against North Korea.”

Officials from the two Koreas recently met for their highest-level talks in two years, and the North agreed to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics next month in South Korea.