He's upset and he's provoking international incidents with nuclear capability
by digby
Yesterday's scary tweetfest indicates that he's very upset, probably about the Wolff book but it could be something else, and his way of blowing off steam is to provoke nuclear powers Pakistan, China, North Korea and stick his small ham hands into the protests in Iran.
President Trump's boast last night that he has a "bigger & more powerful" Nuclear Button (caps, Trump's) than North Korea has some administration insiders worried that we could blunder into war.
What they're saying: "Every war in history was an accident," said one administration insider. "You just don't know what's going to send him over the edge."
The "him" was Trump, but could also refer to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who started the "nuclear button" exchange with a New Year's Day speech on Monday in which he said: "The U.S. should know that the button for nuclear weapons is on my table" (desk).
The N.Y. Times' succinct homepage headline: "Trump Taunts Kim."
But, but, but: Trump insiders caution that the media tends to over-interpret and over-cover statements that Trump has made just to stir the pot, and with little prior thought.
Their view is basically: Sometimes, a tweet is just a tweet.
Why it matters: The danger here is that Kim is also an unpredictable actor, and not one fully understood by U.S. intelligence.
As one outside adviser to the West Wing told me: "This is the most important issue on the president's desk. We are in a hair-trigger environment. And this is potentially a shooting war with nuclear risk."
The adviser added: "What intel analysis or foreign policy advice leads to employing this as a tactic?"
Some West Wing insiders remain convinced that the risk of war is higher than most outsiders realize.