Pentagon: US can launch preventive nuclear strike without permission of Congress

Baku. 31 October. REPORT.AZ/ Pentagon chief James Mattis, admitted that he could imagine a situation in which Donald Trump can issue an order for a pre-emptive nuclear strike without the permission of Congress.

Report informs citing the TASS, Mattis said on Monday at a hearing in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate of the United States Congress, devoted to the use of military force by the United States abroad. The hearing is broadcast on the committee's website.

"If we saw that they are preparing for this [nuclear strike against the US] and this is inevitable, then I can imagine such a situation," Mattis said, answering the senator's question.

Pentagon chief also stressed that this decision "will be subjected to extremely close scrutiny".