Trump Speaks of Something More Powerful Than Nukes

Speaking at the Pentagon to mark the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, President Trump promised that if "they come back to our country, we will go wherever they are and use power the likes of which the United States has never used before." He added, per the Washington Post, "I'm not even talking about nuclear power. They will never have seen anything like what will happen to them." The Week calls the threat "cryptic." It came as Trump was discussing the Taliban and the controversial negotiations that were to take place at Camp David before they were abruptly canceled.

"We had peace talks scheduled a few days ago. I called them off when I learned that they had killed a great American soldier from Puerto Rico and 11 other innocent people" in a suicide bombing, Trump said. Per Politico, he implied the Taliban carried out the attack in an attempt to gain leverage during the talks: "They thought they would use this attack to show strength, but actually, what they showed is unrelenting weakness." And in the four days since the talks were canceled, "we have hit our enemy harder than they have ever been hit before, and that will continue," he said. The Hill reports Trump participated in a moment of silence on the White House lawn Wednesday morning at 8:46am, the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center, then left for the Pentagon ceremony. (More 9/11 attacks stories.)