Donald Trump’s nuclear scandal with Saudi Arabia is his most horrifying yet
There’s finally no other way around it. No matter the spin, no matter the political tribal affiliation, everyone needs to sober up and face the facts. We’ve got a nuclear problem.
Today we’ve gotten more details on the Michael Flynn connection to selling the Saudis our nuclear energy secrets, thanks to the New York Times. We also found out that Lara Trump, Eric Trump’s wife, has a brother that has been put to work advising the Department of Energy despite having no energy background or experience. To remind you, the Department of Energy is the agency that controls our nuclear arsenal, power plants and technology.
Why should this bother the National Nuclear Security Administration? Well, if we play the Who’s Compromised game, we come up with a lot of people in the Trump circle trying to put together a nuclear power plant deal for the Saudis. This is in and of itself inexplicable. Why sell coal to Newcastle? Don’t the Saudis have enough oil to fuel their power needs and most of the world? Huh? None of this makes sense.
Except when you realize that weapons-grade plutonium is made in nuclear reactors, i.e. nuclear power plants. And plutonium is what’s necessary for thermonuclear weapons. And thermonuclear weapons are the one thing the Saudis don’t have, and the one thing the Saudis can’t buy with all their oil money. The Flynn Plan seemed to be to sell the nuclear power technology to the Saudis and make billions on their plants.
Another aspect to this was Erik Prince’s idea to have his private military protect the plants. (Just a reminder: Erik Prince is Betsy DeVos’s brother. He is also the former head of the notorious Blackwater.)
We all know Jared Kushner is in tight with the Saudis and if you believe Flynn’s deal didn’t cut in the Trumps, I have some more coals to sell Newcastle.
The National Nuclear Security Administration seems to have gotten wind of this. I predict they don’t play. In the near future, I expect we will be getting more details, perhaps from indictments, perhaps from whistleblowers. But if the Trump administration’s flaunting of the rule of law hasn’t bothered you much, I can tell you right now, it’s time to worry.
TR Kenneth is the author of the thriller, A ROOM FULL OF NIGHT. You can read all about her at trkenneth.com and on Twitter