Prez Obama says Trump 'doesn't know much about the world' after the GOP frontrunner suggests Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons

... Prez calling it as he sees it

Photo: EPA

President Barack Obama said suggestions from people like Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that Japan and South Korea show a lack of knowledge about foreign policy, nuclear policy and the Korean Peninsula

    President Barack Obama said suggestions from people like Donald Trump that Japan and South Korea show a lack of knowledge about foreign policy
    He said that they also show lack of knowledge on nuclear policy, the Korean Peninsula and 'the world generally'
    Trump said earlier this week that Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to North Korea
 

 

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Obama noted that Trump's comments came up during discussions with leaders at the nuclear summit in Washington
    Obama's comments come just a day after a White House deputy national security adviser said that Trump's proposal was 'catastrophic'

President Barack Obama took a shot at Donald Trump on Friday, saying suggestions from people like the GOP frontrunner that South Korea and Japan should develop nuclear weapons show a lack of understanding of the world.

He said that they show a lack of knowledge about foreign policy, nuclear policy and the Korean Peninsula.

Obama was asked about the issue Friday night after Trump said Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to North Korea

Photo:Washpo/Getty Images

Trump said earlier this week that Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to North Korea

The president said the United States doesn't want someone in the Oval Office who doesn't recognize the potential trouble in such a development.

'[The statements] tell us that the person who made the statements doesn't know much about foreign policy, nuclear policy, the Korean peninsula or the world generally,' Obama said at the press conference. 'I said before, people pay attention to American elections.'

Obama noted that Trump's comments came up during discussions with leaders at the nuclear summit in Washington.  

He said that even countries that are used to a 'carnival atmosphere' in their politics want 'sobriety and clarity' in US elections.

Trump has made several remarks about nuclear weapons lately, even claiming he would not rule out using nuclear bombs in Europe. 

Photo: AP

Obama noted that Trump's comments came up during discussions with leaders at the nuclear summit in Washington

Obama's comments come just a day after White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said that Trump's proposal for Japan and South Korea to have nuclear weapons would be 'catastrophic' for US policy.

'The entire premise of American foreign policy as it relates to nuclear weapons for the last 70 years has been focused on preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional states,' Rhodes said on Thursday. 'That's been the position of bipartisan administrations, everybody who has occupied the Oval Office.'

Trump said at a CNN town hall on Tuesday that the United States 'can't afford' to protect countries like Japan.  

'Frankly it would be catastrophic were the United States to shift its position and indicate that we support somehow the proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional countries,' Rhodes said, according to ABC.  

Obama discussed Trump's proposal at a press conference on Friday at the conclusion of a nuclear security summit, where he met with more than 50 leaders to discuss nuclear security. 

Photo: EPA

Obama discussed Trump's proposal at a press conference on Friday at the conclusion of a nuclear security summit, where he met with more than 50 leaders to discuss nuclear security

He also said at the press conference that the United States and Russia are unlikely to further reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons during the remainder of his presidency. 

He did say, however, that he believes the two countries have put systems in place that will allow for more reductions in the future.

At the close of a nuclear security summit, Obama said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has emphasized 'military might' instead of disarmament, but Obama believes there are still possibilities for progress.

In the meantime, Obama said the world must guard against the proliferation of new, deadlier nuclear weapons.

The president is crediting the United States and Russia with abiding by a bilateral arms reduction treaty. 

He said he's tried to strike the right balance between arms reduction and preserving US nuclear weapons capabilities.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

During the press conference Obama also discussed Russia, drones killing civilians, repression in Turkey and doing business in Iran

As for the world's work to prevent nuclear attacks, Obama said the task is 'by no means finished'. 

He said world leaders have made 'significant, meaningful progress' in securing nuclear materials so terrorists can't get them.

But, he said, there is still a large amount of nuclear and radioactive material that must be secured, adding that in some countries, the nuclear arsenal is expanding.

Obama said the dozens of leaders attending the summit agreed to keep strengthening nuclear facilities against cyber-attacks and to bolster defenses against nuclear smuggling.

The work has just begun, Obama said, adding that the vision of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons may not happen in his lifetime.  

Also at the press conference, Obama mentioned drones, Turkey and doing business in Iran. 

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

The press conference came after Obama hosted the two-day Nuclear Secruity Summit in Washington, DC this week

Obama acknowledged that 'civilians have been killed that shouldn't have been' in past US drone strikes, but says the administration is now 'very cautious' about taking strikes where women or children are present.

Asked at the news conference about an increase in the number of people targeted in several drone strikes against extremist targets in Libya, Syria and Somalia, Obama said the 'legal architecture' around the use of drone strikes in the past hasn't been precise.

But in the last several years, he said, the administration has worked hard to prevent civilian deaths.

He added that the United States has to take responsibility when it is not acting appropriately.

The president moved on to Turkey, and said he has been troubled by the country's repression of the press and democratic debate under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Still, he says Turkey is a NATO ally and an important partner in fighting terrorism. Further, Obama said he has a productive partnership with Erdogan.

Obama has, however, spoken openly with Erdogan about trends in Turkey that he calls troubling, particularly in regard to freedom of the press, religion and democracy.

Erdogan was among the 50-some world leaders who joined Obama at a nuclear security summit in Washington.

As for Iran, Obama said the country has to convince international companies that it is safe to do business there as it gains relief from sanctions by complying with the nuclear deal.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

US President Barack Obama (center) speaks as (L-R) Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau look on during the closing session of the Nuclear Security Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center

Obama he said that the United States and its partners in the nuclear deal need to clarify what business transactions are allowed as the sanctions are lifted.

He added that the Iranians thus far have adhered to the letter of the nuclear agreement.

Iran is, however,  flouting the agreement's spirit, Obama said, by doing things like testing ballistic missiles marked with slogans calling for the destruction of Israel, which shakes the confidence of international companies that might otherwise want to do business with the nation.

Earlier on Friday, Obama spoke of the threat of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands, such as those of ISIS terrorists.

The President said no terrorist group had succeeded in getting hold of making a dirty bomb, but said al-Qaeda wanted to and ISIS had already used chemical weapons in the Middle East.

He said there was no doubt that if ISIS 'mad men' got a nuclear bomb, they would use it to kill as many people as possible. Obama gave a chilling warning that such a catastrophic disaster would 'change our world'.

'We have measurably reduced the risk,' Obama said. But he added: 'The threat of nuclear terrorism persists and continues to evolve.'

And he warned that as ISIS comes under greater pressure it will likely carry out more attacks elsewhere.

'As ISIL is squeezed in Syria and Iraq, we can anticipate it lashing out elsewhere, as we've seen most recently and tragically in countries from Turkey to Brussels,' Obama said - using another acronym for ISIS.

Despite Obama's warnings - and his hi-jinks during the photograph with other world leaders - Donald Trump's earlier comments on nuclear weapons cast a shadow over the summit.

The Republican presidential candidate said this week that allowing Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan to develop their own nuclear programs would ease strains on US budgets, given the spiraling costs of maintaining America's nuclear umbrella and foreign troop deployments.

'Japan is better if it protects itself against this maniac of North Korea,' Trump said on Tuesday.

'We are better off frankly if South Korea is going to start protecting itself ... they have to protect themselves or they have to pay us.'

In the wake of terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris, security officials have raised concerns that the next attack could spread cancer-causing substances across a wide swath of a Western city, wreaking havoc and triggering evacuations.

Courtesy: mail