The US president has denounced a "fake news" Axios website.

President Donald Trump denied Monday he had suggested dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes before they hit the United States, calling the news "ridiculous".

"Fake news"

According to the Axios website, the US president asked at a hurricane meeting whether it would be possible, to prevent them from completely training at sea, to drop an atomic bomb on their center. According to an anonymous source quoted by this information site, the people who participated in the meeting came out perplexed. It does not specify when this meeting would have taken place.

The head of the White House, traveling to France for the G7 summit in Biarritz, however, denied the information, which he called "fake news" in a tweet. "The story of Axios that President Trump wanted to blow big hurricanes with nuclear weapons before they reach the coast is ridiculous - I never said that - just one more FAKE NEWS!", says the US president in his message.

The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons before reaching ridiculous. I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2019

An idea far from new

The idea is not new, says Axios. It was originally issued in the 1950s by a scientist who worked for the US government, under the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. Since then, it has resurfaced regularly, although there is a scientific consensus that it would not work.

The US Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) has a page dedicated to the issue. "Every hurricane season, it is always suggested that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try to destroy the storms," ​​NOAA said. Not only would a bomb not alter the storm, but the winds would spread radioactive fallout quickly to nearby lands, the agency added. "Needless to say, it's not a good idea," NOAA said.

According to Axios, Donald Trump had already asked for a first time, in 2017, whether his administration should bomb hurricanes to prevent them from touching the ground. In this conversation, the president had not mentioned the possible use of nuclear bombs, said the site.