White House: No New Intelligence Informed Biden’s Nuclear Armageddon Remarks

No new intelligence prompted President Joe Biden’s nuclear Armageddon remarks, according to the White House.

Biden told a group of donors late Oct. 6 that the world faces the “prospect of Armageddon” due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s perceived threat of using nuclear weapons.

“No. No,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One on Friday, when asked whether new intelligence motivated Biden to make the comments.

“The President was speaking about concerns about Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons, just as he did at the U.N. General Assembly and we have done over the past few weeks,” Jean-Pierre added.

Jean-Pierre also said that the United States has still not seen a reason to adjust its nuclear posture, nor does it have indications that Russia “is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons.”

“Russia’s nuclear rhetoric has been reckless and irresponsible. But if the Cuban Missile Crisis has taught us anything, it is the value of reducing nuclear risk and not brandishing it,” she added later.

Putin said recently that “we will certainly use all the means that we have to defend Russia and our people” if Russia’s “territorial integrity” is threatened.

Russia is currently battling for more territory in Ukraine, which it invaded in February. America has provided billions in arms and other aid to Ukraine and has said Russia should withdraw.

Biden said Thursday that the United States faces “for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis … a direct threat to the use of nuclear weapons, if in fact things continue down the path they are going.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Strelna, Russia, on Oct. 7, 2022. (Alexey Danichev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

He also said that he and other American officials are trying to discern an “off-ramp” for Putin.

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