With Iran tensions rising again, despite ongoing peace talks, Philip Giraldi wonders at the Unz Review what happens if Trump decides to use nuclear weapons against Iran. He writes:

So for the benefit of all those, like myself, who want to learn what happens when the United States President pushes the so-called button or pulls the trigger, whichever metaphor one prefers, to start a nuclear war, I will outline what I have discovered. The biggest surprise to me was that there are not really any checks and balances on what takes place to make sure that no president is making a mistake or exceeding authority to go nuclear. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states that “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States” and both courts and legal scholars have long interpreted this clause as giving the President direct command over military operations, including decisions about when and how to use specific weapons. Indeed, no statute or constitutional provision requires the President to get approval from anyone else before ordering a nuclear strike.

The President’s status as Commander-in-Chief of all US military forces includes those delivery systems for nuclear weapons, and he has absolute authority to launch when, in his or her judgement, there is a proportionate imminent threat coming from a hostile state. Which de facto authority is not to say that there has not been a legal debate over the context of using a nuclear weapon. When incoming warheads are minutes away, there is virtually no legal debate: the President has full authority to respond with nuclear force without seeking prior authorization from Congress. The War Powers Resolution itself recognizes that the President’s Commander-in-Chief powers as the sole nuclear launch authority may be exercised in response to “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”

Read more here.