Former Trump Officials Tell 'Too Stupid for Words' Story

Rolling Stone is out with a previously untold story about the early days of Donald Trump's presidency. Two former administration officials as well as a third source tell the magazine that Trump, on multiple occasions from the time he took office until at least 2018, asked officials and national security aides whether China had the ability to create hurricanes and then launch them, like weapons, at the US. He also wanted to know, if such technology existed and China used it, whether the US could consider it an act of war and retaliate with its military. "It was almost too stupid for words," says one of the former officials. "I did not get the sense he was joking at all."

Some referred to the line of inquiry as "the 'hurricane gun' thing," the magazine says. Stephanie Grisham, a former top aide who has since split with the Trumps, never heard that particular topic but tells Rolling Stone, "That does not surprise me at all. Stuff like that was not unusual for him. He would blurt out crazy things all the time, and tell aides to look into it or do something about it. His staff would say they’d look into knowing that more often than not, he’d forget about it quickly—much like a toddler." As the Guardian notes, Trump also once, in 2019, reportedly suggested "nuking" hurricanes in order to stop them. (See Rolling Stone's full story here.)