I've been chewing on this for days, and I keep coming up with the same answer...
Originally Posted by joemikeb
Of course the military cannot deny a President access to the nuclear launch codes, but they can drag their feet and I suspect most would resign rather than reveal them to The Donald. It would surprise me if the Pentagon couldn't drag their collective feet and delay long enough for Trump's term to expire. After all there is a LOT of paperwork that would have to be attended to first and you know how long that can take.
As to a military coup, that would be the end of our democracy.
Why wouldn't the Joint Chiefs delaying implementing a Constitutionally legal order issued by the Commander In Chief in order to give his successor the opportunity to negate it be considered a military coup in and of itself?
Indeed, there is a military aide who shadows the Commander in Chief day and night, carrying the black briefcase commonly referred to as the “nuclear football,†packed with attack options and other information needed in a national emergency. At any moment’s notice, Trump is legally empowered to order a nuclear attack with America’s arsenal of strategic bombers, missile-launching submarines and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Perhaps I've been naive, but I've always thought it worked like "The President said "FIRE," so 3-2-1-0..."
