Donald Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said Thursday that Trump's clear contradictory statements on Japan getting nuclear weapons were not, in fact, contradictory.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer played three different clips over the past few weeks of Trump speaking about Japan and South Korea arming themselves with nuclear weapons in order to protect themselves from North Korea.
First, Blitzer played a clip from the previous night of Trump speaking his rally in California.
"They said ... I want Japan to get nuclear weapons. Give me a break," Trump said.
Second, a clip was played from an interview with Anderson Cooper.
"At some point you have to say, you know what? We are better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. We are better off, frankly, if South Korea starts to protect itself," Trump said.
Lastly, a clip of Trump from Fox News Sunday is played.
"North Korea has nukes. Japan has a problem with that. I mean they have a big problem with that. Maybe they would in fact be better off if they defend themselves from North Korea,"
"With nukes," the interviewer asked.
"Including with nukes, yes, including with nukes," Trump said.
Blitzer then asked Pierson for an explanation as to why Trump contradicted himself.
"All right, you heard him say that twice, including with nukes. Last night he denied he ever said it. How do you explain that contradiction?" Blitzer asked.
Pierson explained that Trump did not contradict himself because it’s a "discussion" about future options that should be made available in the future.
"Well, it's really not a contradiction. He says maybe it would be better if this occurred," Pierson said. "This is not a policy. This is a discussion about what should take place overseas. I mean when you have all of your enemies being armed with nuclear weapons, we should have the discussion on whether or not our allies should be able to defend themselves or even us, if God forbid something were to happen. So, again this was not a policy decision that Mr. Trump has made with regards to nuclear weapons."
"Let me just be precise because you are the national campaign spokesperson for the Trump Campaign, I want to be precise," Blitzer said. "He is open to the possibility that Japan, and South Korea for that matter, develop its own nuclear arsenal to deal potentially with a North Korean nuclear threat."
"Mr. Trump is open to the idea of reshaping the way the United States has continued to constantly fund the protection of other nations and not out own. Whether or not that involves nuclear weapons remains to be seen but Mr. Trump is definitely open to the possibility that maybe our allies should be able to protect themselves and us if we need them," Pierson responded.