President Donald Trump made reference to a racial slur during a meeting with top U.S. military leaders in Virginia on Tuesday.
In a speech to hundreds of senior military leaders at Quantico Marine Corps Base, Trump said there are “two N-words” one can’t say, USA Today reported.
Speaking to the nuclear submarines he moved near Russia in August, he stressed that he refers to the nuclear threat as the “N-word,” adding that he doesn’t like to hold conversations about nuclear weapons.
“We can’t let people throw it around, that word,” he said. “I call it the N-word.”
“There are two N-words, and you can’t use either of them,” Trump added.
On August 1, Trump said that in response to Russia’s nuclear threats, he had ordered two nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions.”
He wrote on Truth Social that “based on the highly provocative statements” of Russian spokesperson Dmitry Medvedev, “I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”
During his Tuesday speech, Trump also boasted about the U.S. possessing some of the world’s most powerful nuclear weapons.
“Frankly, if it does get to use, we have more than anybody else,” he said. “We have better, we have newer, but it’s something you don’t ever want to have to think about.”
People reports that there was silent for most of the president’s speech.
“I never walked into a room so silent before,” he said after taking the stage. “If you want to applaud, you applaud. You can do anything you want.”
“If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. But, there goes your rank and there goes your future.”