Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, openly admitted recently that the Defense Department was actively working to increase the “[nuclear] options available” to President Donald Trump — leaving a number of academics and journalists horrified.
“None of this is hypothetical, not for an administration that went to war with Iran this year for the stated reason of keeping Tehran from ever getting a nuclear weapon,” wrote independent journalist Ken Klippenstein in a recent report on his Substack.
“In this environment, handing Trump more nuclear options isn’t some wonky policy tweak. This is a question of national survival.”
As flagged by Klippenstein, Colby made the remarks during a Sept. 17 closed hearing with the Senate Committee on Armed Services.
In his testimony, Colby said that the United States would “only consider the employment of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances,” but did admit that the Defense Department was actively conducting a “classified review of U.S. nuclear employment guidance, with the goal of increasing options available to the president” — a review launched “in light of the changing global nuclear landscape.”
Journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan reacted to Klippenstein’s report with fury, and Canadian historian Alexander Howlett called the idea — that deploying nuclear weapons could help the Trump administration achieve victory in its deeply unpopular war against Iran — a “myth.”
“Literally why every country needs a nuclear weapon,” argued Ambereen Dadabhoy, a professor at Harvey Mudd College, reacting to Klippenstein’s report.
However, what shocked Klippenstein most about the revelation that Trump’s nuclear options were being expanded was what he argued to be the lack of interest from mainstream media outlets.
“Isn’t nuclear policy the kind of thing the public should have some or literally any say in? Washington of course has zero interest in that. But why does the news media?” Klippenstein asked.
“It’s baffling that they haven’t done a single story on this. Meanwhile, there’s wall-to-wall coverage of the hack of FBI data and its supposed threat to Bureau personnel. That’s of interest to the FBI, but why would any ordinary person give a s—? (The FBI can sign up for the $45 class action settlement like the rest of us!)”
The final air power “if only we’d bombed them more…” myth of victory through the air delivered atomic weapon https://t.co/NJF7FokUPz — Alex Howlett (@Suetonius_) October 1, 2026
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