to those who actually have the nuclear codes--could you just give drumpfy a phony set of codes,

[niyad]

ones that won't actually let him do anything? pretty please?

[Girard442]

1. Sadly, it's a lose-lose.

If the military refuses to follow Trump's orders, it's insubordination and an end to the principle of civilian control of the military.

On the other hand if they do follow his orders...

[niyad]

2. I know--wishful thinking here.

[haele]

6. UCMJ allows for disobedience of an unlawful order.

If he orders the military to go nuclear when there's not an immediate threat in a psychotic episode, there's ways to delay, delay, delay until a general can say "well, no threat here -isn't a good thing we waited to find out what the situation actually was?".
No one in the military wants to push that button, once they are trained to do so.
Lots of gung-ho super-patriots think it's easy to do -until they're locked in on station for their shift watching the button, and realize it means the end of everything for real if they have to actually launch a missile.

Haele

[hunter]

3. They'd ignore Nixon when he'd get drunk and threaten to nuke someplace.

...

The allegation of flirting with nuclear weaponry is not an isolated one. Nixon had been open to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Vietnam as early as 1954 and as president-elect in 1968 had talked of striking "a blow that would both end the war and win it". A Kissinger aide who moved over to the White House, David Young, told a colleague "of the time he was on the phone (listening) when Nixon and Kissinger were talking. Nixon was drunk, and he said, 'Henry, we've got to nuke them.' "

...more...

https://www.theguardian.com/weekend/story/0,3605,362958,00.html

[niyad]

9. oh, wow, that is one scary thing to know--and thank goodness they ignored him.

[True_Blue]

4. K & R

Let's keep this thread on top.

[hughee99]

5. If they did, and he never used them, he may never know they're fake. n/t

[madokie]

7. As I've been saying

I hope that the powers to be are installing, if they haven't already, a firewall between tRump and the nukes.

[niyad]

10. exactly!

[spin]

8. No. The Russians, the Chinese and the North Koreans have probably hacked ...

The NSA (the agency that generates the codes) and the Pentagon and would know Trump had fake codes. Therefore we would have no way to respond to a nuclear attack and therefore no way to deter one.

In passing there is still a two man rule to launch a nuclear attack.

Should the president decide to order the launch of nuclear weapons, they would be taken aside by the "carrier" of the nuclear football and the briefcase opened.[3] Once opened, the president would decide which "Attack Options", specific orders for attacks on specific targets, to use. The Attack Options are preset war plans developed under OPLAN 8010, and include Major Attack Options (MAOs), Selected Attack Options (SAOs), and Limited Attack Options (LAOs). The chosen attack option and the Gold Codes would then be transmitted to the NMCC via a special, secure channel. As commander-in-chief, the president is the only individual with the authority to order the use of nuclear weapons;[11] however, the two-man rule still applies. The National Command Authority comprising the president and Secretary of Defense must jointly authenticate the order to use nuclear weapons to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[6] The order would then be transmitted over a tan-yellow phone, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Alerting Network, otherwise known as the "Gold Phone", that directly links the NMCC with United States Strategic Command Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.[citation needed] It is argued by Franklin Miller that the President has almost single authority to initiate a nuclear attack since the Secretary of Defense is required to verify the order, but cannot legally veto it.[12][13] However, Section 4 of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution allows for the vice president, together with a majority of cabinet heads or Congress, to declare the President disabled or unfit to execute the duties of the office.[14](...emphasis added)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Codes

[niyad]

14. since his proposed secdef is as much of an asshole as he is, that does not give me much hope.

[spin]

16. That is a fair point. (n/t)

[SQUEE]

17. I think his SecDef is the best appointment so far.

Mattis is no simple yes man and a dedicated student of all things military. He will not spill his troops blood for another mans vanity.
I feel much safer knowing he would bow up to the Yam on any stupid tantrum that the Orange One would want to throw.

[pipi_k]

11. Those of a certain age

would probably know how entertaining this could be and how it could keep little minds occupied....

[hunter]

13. We had that toy!

I remember "teaching" my younger siblings how to play with it.

[lpbk2713]

12. The aide that carries the nuclear football also carries a sidearm.

Maybe, just maybe, this aide could have a crisis of conscience
if a very critical moment should ever come to pass. But we will
never know about it. Said aide would never live to tell about it.

[niyad]

15. there is that, to all your points.