Washington - US president Donald Trump has dismissed claims that he proposed using nuclear weapons to ‘disrupt’ hurricanes approaching the US.
The American President reportedly suggested dropping bombs into the eyes of storms forming off the coast of Africa.
"Why don’t we nuke them?" he is said to have asked during White House briefings with national security officials.
An anonymous source told the website Axios that officials assured Mr Trump they would "look into it".
But the President on Monday dismissed the story.
Referring to himself in the third person, he tweeted: "The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous. I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!"
The White House declined to comment on the report earlier.
The idea of bombing hurricanes is not new and was originally proposed by a government scientist in the 1950s under President Dwight Eisenhower.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a web page on the concept but says it is ‘not a good idea’.