Donald Trump did many questionable things during his time as US President, but his former officials have revealed another conspiracy to add to the list.
Unnamed senior officials have claimed during the first year of Trump's presidency he had pressing questions for his national security aides, including whether China was manufacturing hurricanes to use as weapons against the US.
"It was almost too stupid for words," one former Trump official told the Rolling Stone. "I did not get the sense he was joking at all."
The officials said Trump began interrogating national security officials about the 'hurricane gun' until at least 2018.
A second official said Trump had asked whether the technology existed for China to make hurricanes to send to the US, to which one person responded no.
According to the National Hurricane Centre and Central Pacific Hurricane Centre, the United States experiences an average of 18 hurricanes each decade, with six of them being major.
With the East Coast most prone to hurricanes, the outlet reported Trump wondered if the source of them was from China and whether that would constitute an act of war and if the US could retaliate militarily.
A former top Trump aide, Stephanie Grisham, said these types of comments were not out of the ordinary for Trump, who is known for having absurd, conspiracy-theory-powered ideas.
"Stuff like that was not unusual for him. He would blurt out crazy things all the time, and tell aides to look into it or do something about it," Grisham told the outlet.
"His staff would say they'd look into knowing that more often than not, he'd forget about it quickly — much like a toddler."
