Donald Trump's behaviour 'downright disturbing', says former intelligence director

The former US director of national intelligence James Clapper has directly criticised Donald Trump, calling his performance at a campaign rally in Arizona on Tuesday "downright disturbing and scary".

"I really question his … fitness to be in this office," said Clapper, who served as intelligence director for seven years under Barack Obama. "And I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it. Maybe he is looking for a way out."

"Having some understanding of the levers that a president can exercise, I worry about, frankly, the access to the nuclear codes," he told CNN. "In a fit of pique he decides to do something about Kim Jong-un, there's actually very little to stop him. The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So there's very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary."

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During the recent increase in tensions between the US and North Korean governments, many military analysts expressed concern about Trump's ability to act on his own initiative. "Once a president has verified his identity with a code kept constantly on his person or nearby, the military chain of command has no power to block his launch orders," The Guardian reports.