- US presidents are accompanied by a military assistant who carries a suitcase with the tools necessary for nuclear war.
- During presidential inaugurations, the nuclear command authority and “nuclear football” are handed over to the new president.
- But President Donald Trump is not allowed to participate in President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, which could complicate the transfer.
- The Pentagon said there was a plan for the transfer in that scenario, but declined to provide details. But nuclear weapons experts and a former military assistant carrying the case provided some insight.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
An important but discreet part of a new president’s inauguration is the transfer of command and control authority over the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but it is possible that President Donald Trump will not attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, which would make things can complicate.
Trump has declined to say whether he will attend Biden’s inauguration, but multiple reports suggest the president will skip the swearing-in ceremony of his successor and hold a political rally instead.
So what will happen to the “nuclear football” accompanying the president if Trump doesn’t show up? How does it get to Biden?
“That’s a good question,” Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists, told Insider. “It’s an unprecedented situation.”
The President has sole authority to carry out a nuclear strike, and wherever he goes, he is accompanied by a military assistant who carries a briefcase called the “ President’s Emergency Bag, ” more commonly known as the nuclear football.
Every president since John F. Kennedy has been accompanied by the assistant with the hefty briefcase, which allows the commander-in-chief to lead the US nuclear forces while away from physical command and control centers.
A US military assistant carries the President’s “emergency bag.”
AP Photo / Andrew Harnik
The case does not contain a button that can instantly unleash hundreds of nuclear warheads deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers. Instead, the case contains means of communication, codes and options for a nuclear war.
Aside from the football, presidents wear a card, also called the “cookie”, on their person with authentication codes. In a nuclear conflict, the president would use the codes in conjunction with the tools in the suitcase to identify himself to the military and order a nuclear strike.
Prospective presidents are usually briefed on their nuclear responsibilities before taking the oath of office. Then, during the inauguration, the codes they received that morning or the day before become active, and control of football is passed silently and seamlessly to the new president.
Trump described that moment as ‘sobering’ and ‘very scary’, told ABC News in 2017 “when they explain what it represents and the kind of destruction you’re talking about, that’s a very sobering moment.”
The transfer of the nuclear football was due to take place at noon as the new president is sworn in. The military assistant who carried the suitcase hands it over to the newly appointed military assistant, former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an earlier Discovery documentary. . This is traditionally done on the side and is not part of the show.
If Trump isn’t at the inauguration, the transfer process will be different. Still, the transfer will have to take place immediately, said retired Air Force Lt Col Buzz Patterson, who carried the football for former President Bill Clinton.
“That’s how it should be,” he told Insider. “For the process to work, you have to have this clear transfer of responsibilities.” He said how that happens is up to the Pentagon, which serves the position of the commander in chief, not the man.
A Pentagon spokesman told Insider that the Department of Defense had a plan for the transfer on inauguration day, but declined to provide further details.
“We’re making war with this stuff, and we’ve been practicing it for years to come,” said Patterson. “There are systems in place to make sure that happens instantly.
“We’re not taking this stuff lightly,” he added. “There will be no hiccups. It will just disappear without anyone noticing, and that’s what should happen. ‘
Kristensen, the nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists, speculated that the plan could resemble plans for situations where a president is suddenly killed or incapacitated for work, situations where the nuclear command and control authority and all associated equipment must be. transferred immediately to the vice president or other designated survivor.
Stephen Schwartz, a non-resident senior fellow at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, recently discussed with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation what would happen to nuclear football if Trump did not attend the inauguration.
Schwartz, known for his research into nuclear football, said there was more than one football. In fact, he explained, there are at least three of them – for the president, vice president, and a designated survivor.
He said if nuclear football had not yet been prepared, it would likely be before the inauguration. A military assistant would then be on hand to follow Biden once he was sworn in. And at that point, Trump’s nuclear warrant and control authority would expire.
“Hopefully President Trump will be there and it will be just a transfer, as it has been for decades,” Patterson said, adding that if he didn’t, “it’s not that big of a deal,” because the military will make it happen. make sure the handover takes place as needed.