A major departure in the new policy is the plan to build new low-yield nuclear weapons. Under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, signed in 1968, the United States and Russia promised to reduce the role and number of nuclear weapons. Until Mr. Trump, no one could imagine the United States ever using a nuclear weapon again. But Mr. Trump has so shaken this orthodoxy that Congress has begun debating limits on his unilateral authority to launch nuclear weapons. Expanding the instances when America might use nuclear weapons could also make it easier for other nuclear-armed countries to justify using their own arsenals against adversaries.

Source: New York Times January 13, 2018 19:30 UTC