Deadly Overconfidence | 2017 | Publications

Deadly Overconfidence: Trump Thinks Missile Defenses Work Against North Korea, and that Should Scare You

Vipin Narang

War on the Rocks, October 16, 2017 (With Ankit Panda)

Could a president’s  overconfidence in U.S. defensive systems lead to deadly miscalculation and nuclear armageddon? Yes. Yes, it could. Last Wednesday, referring to potential American responses to North Korea’s missile and nuclear program, President Donald Trump told Sean Hannity “We have missiles that can knock out a missile in the air 97 percent of the time, and if you send two of them it’s gonna get knocked out.” If Trump believes — or is being told — that American missile defenses are that accurate, not only is he factually wrong, he is also very dangerously wrong. This misperception could be enough to lead the United States into a costly war with devastating consequences.