Again... The world scratches head when it comes to US elections....

Moniz: Presidential race causing 'concern and confusion' abroad

By Andrew Restuccia

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Wednesday there is "concern and confusion" in the international community about the political rhetoric coming from presidential campaign, and he insisted the policy of the U.S. was to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Moniz declined to directly address how his foreign counterparts viewed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but the cabinet secretary, who helped negotiate last year's deal to curb Iran's nuclear development, said the international community was taking note.

"I’m not going to comment on any candidates' individual positions, but obviously there’s a lot of, shall we say, attention paid to what’s going on in the United States, a lot of, let’s face it, concern and confusion about what’s going on," Moniz said at a POLITICO Playbook event.

Trump told a town hall last month that proliferation "was going to happen anyway," and he has suggested that Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia should have their own nuclear weapons capability.

Moniz stressed that the policy of the Obama administration on nuclear weapons had been to reduce the amount of nuclear material in the world and prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Asked whether international officials ask him about Trump, Moniz said, "There is concern over the level of political discourse, let me just leave it at that today.”