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Did Trump Try to Use Nuclear Codes? No Evidence to Back Viral Claim
www.newsweek.com

... A viral claim alleging that President Donald Trump attempted to "use nuclear codes" during a heated Saturday night meeting on the Iran crisis is circulating across platforms, despite a lack of evidence. A White House spokesperson told Newsweek the claim was false and criticized its circulation. Newsweek has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

The claim originates from comments made by former CIA officer Larry Johnson during an April 20 appearance on Judging Freedom, a podcast and YouTube talk show hosted by former Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano. Johnson alleged that an emergency session at the White House turned confrontational when General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reportedly stood his ground against a presidential directive.

What Larry Johnson Said

According to Johnson, the exchange was "apparently quite a blowup," resulting in General Caine allegedly refusing to facilitate the use of "the so-called, nuclear codes." As evidence, the podcast featured footage of Caine walking on White House grounds with his head down. Later in the episode Napolitano shows footage of the general walking outside on the White House grounds with his head down.

However, Newsweek has found no independent corroboration of this exchange. While high-level meetings did take place on April 18 to discuss the expiration of the Iran ceasefire, no credible news organization or government official has verified that nuclear launch authority was ever invoked. ...


More: The publication of what appears to be a 22-point manifesto comes at a critical time for Palantir, which faces global criticism for its support of US President Donald Trump's controversial immigration crackdown and its backing of the Israeli military's actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Many have expressed alarm at the book's emphasis on cultural hierarchies and what it calls "regressive" cultures.

Eliot Higgins, the founder of the online investigations platform Bellingcat, sarcastically pointed out how "completely normal" it was for a tech company to post what he said was a manifesto attacking democratic norms. "It's also worth being clear about who's doing the arguing," Higgins added. "Palantir sells operational software to defence, intelligence, immigration & police agencies. These 22 points aren't philosophy floating in space, they're the public ideology of a company whose revenue depends on the politics it's advocating."

Mark Coeckelbergh, a Belgian philosopher of technology who teaches at the University of Vienna, described Palantir's messaging as an "example of technofascism", while Greek economist and former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Palantir had effectively signalled a willingness "to add to nuclear Armageddon the AI-driven threat to humanity's existence".

Posting on social media, Arnaud Bertrand, the entrepreneur and geopolitical commentator, claimed that Palantir had revealed a dangerous "ideological agenda".

"They're effectively saying our tools aren't meant to serve your foreign policy. They're meant to enforce ours'," he wrote.

Links:

Is something strange going on at the SPLC?

FYI: The Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) is an excellent advocate for justice and equality and seems to have less controversy surrounding it: SCHR.org

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