U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that Donald
Trump's recent comments that South Korea and Japan should acquire nuclear
weapons show the leading Republican presidential candidate is not well informed
on international relations.
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| Obama |
Trump told The New York Times in an interview published on
Sunday that he would consider letting the countries build their own nuclear
weapons, rather than having them count on U.S. protection against North Korea
and China.
Obama has made no secret of his disdain for the billionaire
businessman, and he continued that theme with his repudiation of Trump's
pronouncements.
"What do the statements you mentioned tell us?"
Obama told reporters at a news conference at the conclusion of a nuclear
security summit. "They tell us that the person who made the statements
doesn't know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean
peninsula, or the world generally."
Obama said Trump's candidacy had come up as a topic with
world leaders on the sidelines of the summit, and he lamented the state of the
Republican race.
"Even ... those countries that are used to a carnival
atmosphere in their own politics want sobriety and clarity when it comes to
U.S. elections because they understand the president of the United States needs
to know what's going on around the world," he said.
Obama took apart Trump's positions point by point.
The U.S. alliance with Japan and South Korea was one of the
cornerstones of America's presence in the Asia Pacific region and had
underwritten peace and prosperity there, he said.
The relationship had been a boon to U.S. commerce and
influence in addition to preventing nuclear escalation and conflict, he added.
"You don't mess with that. It is an investment that
rests on the sacrifices that our men and women made back in World War II when
they were fighting throughout the Pacific," Obama said.
"We don't want somebody in the Oval Office who doesn't
recognize how important that is."
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