‘It Was Surreal’: Ex-Governor Says Trump ‘Floored Me’ With Comment About Striking First In a Nuclear War

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Former President Donald Trump stunned then-Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló in 2017 while touring the island in the wake of Category 5 Hurricane Maria, which killed thousands and decimated the island’s infrastructure.

Rosselló wrote about his conversations with Trump during the visit, which had many viral moments – including Trump throwing desperately needed supplies at hurricane survivors. The Hill received an excerpt of Rosselló’s new book, out this week, in which the governor says that Trump spoke to him about the prospect of nuclear war and his readiness to press the button first.

Rosselló quotes Trump as saying, “Nature has a way of coming back,” while flying over devastated areas of the island. “Well, it does until it does not. Who knows with nuclear warfare what will happen,” Trump added, according to Rosselló in “The Reformer’s Dilemma.” Rosselló added:

“And then, he said the one thing that made me more concerned than anything else in the entire visit. ‘But I tell you what…’ He paused for effect. ‘If nuclear war happens, we won’t be second in line pressing the button.’ This statement floored me. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was surreal. Was he really talking about total annihilation as we flew over the ravaged sights of the island?”

Trump has long focused on nuclear war and recently told Fox News it’s top of his mind as the biggest threat to humanity. “But this is the big threat. I watched Biden the other night. It’s the greatest existential — he loves that word because it’s a big word and he thinks — you know, he thinks — he knows — he doesn’t even know what the hell the word means. He goes, it’s the greatest existential threat to our country, global warming. In the meantime, you’ve got these maniacs with nuclear weapons that can do damage which I won’t even talk to you about,” Trump said.