‘Ridiculous’: Trump Hits Back Over Axios Scoop That He Suggested Nuking Hurricanes

President Donald Trump called an Axios story alleging he suggested using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from hitting the U.S “ridiculous” Monday.

The Axios story, published Sunday, wrote that Trump “has suggested multiple times to senior Homeland Security and national security officials that they explore using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from hitting the United States.” The story comes from unnamed sources, some of whom heard recordings of the comments, according to Axios.

Trump hit back at the story Monday morning, tweeting it was “Just more FAKE NEWS!”

The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous. I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2019

“I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?” Trump said once, according to a source, Axios reported. “They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can’t we do that?”

In another instance, Trump allegedly wondered if the U.S. could bomb hurricanes to prevent them from hitting the U.S. This time, he did not use the word “nuclear,” according to a source.

Following the story, some of Trump’s critics hit back at him, with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris tweeting “Dude’s gotta go.” Jesse Ferguson, former deputy national press secretary for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, tweeted sarcastically that Trump is a “#VeryStableGenius.”