Section 14: Dreams of Nuclear War and Apocalypse

“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,’” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”  ~ New York Times, 1/02/2018‍ ‍

In the week following Donald Trump’s tweet threatening North Korea with his “big powerful Button” seventy-five people shared or posted dreams of nuclear war and global destruction. Eleven of those dreams were dreams of “World War III” and total global nuclear holocaust.

One of the most heartbreaking was this dream from a young child:

My 5 year old little sister: “I had a bad dream.” Me: “What happened in your dream? Her: Donald Trump pressed a button and blew up the world” [i]‍ ‍‍ ‍

She was not alone in dreaming of total global destruction:  

i had a dream trump moved to the moon and was going to nuke the planet and i was like “see?” to my family but i don’t know what i was so smug about cause i was about to be blown up too[ii]‍ ‍‍ ‍

I had a dream that the world was basically ending. Winter stayed, Trump got us into some war, everyone just gave up and calmly waited for the end.[iii]‍ ‍

I had a dream last night that trump brought us into ww3 and we were being bombed and I had to find shelter before I blew up. I’m out of this fucking country[iv]‍ ‍‍ ‍

Three dreamers envisioned the destruction of the entire solar system:  

I had a dream that Donald Trump blew up the sun and moon[v]‍ ‍‍ ‍

Fifteen dreams reflected the kind of dream processing that reflects acute stress/traumatic response – processing Trump’s threat directly and literally:  

This time when I woke up I’d had a dream that Trump had pressed his special button to nuke Korea and the sound of my dehumidifier was the fucking missiles getting ready to launch[vi]‍ ‍‍ ‍

I had a dream last night that trump declared war on North Korea. He can do that, declare Martial Law, and there would be no constitutional recourse. We're screwed.[vii]‍ ‍‍ ‍

My friend, who is a very logical thinker and not dramatic (who also doesn’t often share his emotions/fears), told me he woke up in the middle of the night to thunder, but his first, very real thought was, “Trump did it. We are at war.”‍ ‍ ~ Anonymous

I dreamt he actually pushed the button and started a nuclear war. Fortunately, it’s the only dream about him I’ve had. ~ Anonymous ‍ ‍‍ ‍

I had a dream that Trump pissed off North Korea and they were going to Nuke the whole United States and then Trump was told on live TV and he fainted from fear. I was crying and sat waiting to die. Which doesn't seem too crazy at this point. It could happen.[viii]‍ ‍‍ ‍

Did anyone else wake up in a panic at 4:30 a.m. in the middle of having a vivid dream about North Korea and missiles? The missile they were using had the name trump written all over it. I woke up while praying to God.[ix]‍ ‍‍ ‍

It seemed to impact even some dreamers who saw themselves as “with” Trump: ‍ ‍

but yo I really had a dream that I was playing golf with Trump and then North Korea dropped a nuke on us[x]

A longer dream, submitted to the website seems to be processing Trumpian brinkmanship:  

I was being strapped into a small space capsule,  like an astronaut climbing inside a tight pod, and various technicians were checking my safety harnesses and strappings and helmet etc. Lots of reassurances and lots of care.‍ ‍Then I saw Donald Trump was involved in the team, and he was laughing and going back and forth to a large control panel on the wall. He was excited about pressing THE button.  I was under the impression I was involved in some kind exploration programme, then next thing I know the hatches are closed, I’m tight inside the pod looking out through a glass window, and I’m suddenly launched forward at terrifying speed, out into the void. It turns out I’m inside a huge telescopic machine of which my capsule is the centre — I’m in the bit which propels out furthest. The machine hurls me forward and then coming into view in the distance is THE REAL actual button – the nuclear launch button, and I’m being thrust forward towards it in a bid to have ME press it and blow the world to smithereens instead of him!‍ ‍‍ ‍Except the machine doesn’t quite reach. It’s just a few metres short.‍ ‍‍ ‍I’m panicking but relieved as I feel the telescope slowly retracting as I’m pulled back to the air hangar where Donald Trump and team are waiting. They know the machine has failed so they try again…Again I’m thrust out into the ether… hurtling towards the button… and AGAIN the entire set up falls *just* short.‍ ‍‍ ‍And so it goes on like this, with me increasingly relieved and laughing as I know it’s never going to get there. I’m the only one who’s been that far out to see the button, and I’m clear it’s not gonna go. It becomes a laughable exercise of relief – but slight tension – as I’m launched out again and again and again…and the dream passes. ‍ ‍~ Anonymous

Three dreamers were approving of the threat or endorsed the threat as effective negotiating tactics.

I had a dream last night that I was in a town just outside New York City, watching a nuclear missile fly from the East & strike a direct hit in the heart of the Big Apple. I think my unconscious is trying to tell me that ppl criticizing peace talks just B/C it's Trump are insane.[xi]‍ ‍‍ ‍j

ust when I thought it couldn't get any better, I had the best dream of the entire night. In it trump authorized a full out nuclear attack on n.korea , burning rocket boy to dust .[xii]‍ ‍‍ ‍

One dreamer seemed to hope their tweet would reach the president directly as if to aid in military strategy:  

Donald J. Trump,  I dreamed that U fired a nuclear missile in2 N. Korea as they fired1toward USA. Same time I seen Russia & Chinese firing 2. missiles each! Russia fired 2 from Subs (East& West UScoasts) & China from their mainland. Subs also fired on all R carriers[xiii]‍ ‍‍ ‍‍ ‍

Twelve dreams depicted the president launching nuclear weapons incompetently or impulsively:  

I had a crazy dream the other night: Melania Trump decided to file for divorce and, in rage, Donald Trump plunged the world in chaos by firing a nuclear strike somewhere.[xiv]‍ ‍‍ ‍

I had a dream that Trump made the wrong decision with Russia and Russia launched a chemical terror attack on America and it was horrible. Is this what adult nightmares are like?[xv]‍ ‍‍ ‍

Had a dream Donald Trump accidentally launched a nuke and didn't know which country it was aimed at. Then everyone on earth had to prepare for the chance that it was theirs[xvi]‍ ‍‍ ‍

I had a dream that Trump was bored so he randomly nuked Japan for no reason. When i woke up i legitimately could not tell if it was a dream or no[xvii]‍ ‍‍ ‍

Had a dream where Trump nuked New York to prove a point. He then started threatening the world.[xviii]

About six of the dreamers indicated that their dream had anticipated Trump’s tweet synchronistically:  

Just woke up having dreamt a nuclear war broke out. Then saw Trump’s idiotic ‘my [nuclear] button is bigger than yours’ tweet, directed at Kim Jong Un. Gave me the shivers. The world is closer to armageddon now than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis - scary times[xix]

The Crazy part about the trump nuclear tweet is that yesterday I literally had a dream that North Korea bombed us..scary ass dream[xx]‍ ‍‍ ‍

I took a nap and had a dream korea nuked us then I woke up and saw what trump tweeted[xxi]

Five dreams depict the president as capable of turning nuclear bombs on the United States directly as a display of dominance or as punishment for disruption and disloyalty.  

My dog just woke me up from a dream where Trump was getting ready to blow up Michigan to prove he had a working bomb. No more Twitter before bed for me.[xxii]‍ ‍

I just had the worst continuous dream about the US testing nuclear missiles and it blowing up causing people to be burned and sick throughout the US. People kept begging Trump to stop but he wouldn’t. Ugh, it’s a sad day when a nightmare could become a reality.[xxiii]‍ ‍

Last night I dreamt #Trump was on TV telling us that the nuke that was about to hit us, was just a test, for the 2nd nuke that was also just about to hit us.[xxiv]‍ ‍

About ten of those collected dreamed of witnessing the bright flash, taking cover or trying to survive in the aftermath of nuclear devastation.  

I had an incredibly intense dream last night where I was riding south on a train into Seattle at night, and we saw a rocket trail in the sky. One of the passengers was online and said that Trump had nuked North Korea. "God, he finally did it. Then we're in the train station in Seattle, with big glass windows facing the Olympic peninsula... and everything shuts down. The first-responder types are running around, trying to figure out what to do, and I'm wandering around the terminal, trying to find a computer... Then there's a bright, distant flash, and I realize that the response is coming. Most people are huddling against the wall, shocked and basically waiting to die...but I refuse—I start making my way downstairs...on my phone, trying to type a last "I love you," to a few people but the internet is down. I type it anyway, hoping that somehow it gets through. There are more flashes, much closer, and everything shakes. I start heading down any stairs or escalators I can find, imagining the building collapsing on me, but knowing death lies upstairs... Eventually, I get down to this strange, dark-ish room in the bottom of the building, and a really bright flash lights up the floors above me, with the sound of screams and breaking glass, and I slide down the last few steps... There's an older woman already down there in the room, looking distraught, going back and forth... I ask her for a hug, but she says "No, no..." ... but I insist... and eventually she hugs me, and I tell her "It's ok. It's all ok. Everything is ok." And she starts crying against me, and suddenly I feel calm and happy... and hold her tight, expecting the end to come at any moment.[xxv]‍ ‍  

A few dreams of unexpected outcomes seemed to sooth the dreamers’s fears, one dream grants everyone exposed to the bomb superpowers, another imagines that the bombs as harmless: ‍ ‍

Can’t believe I had a dream that North Korea bombed america with 4 million bombs but they were just confetti bombs and the trump just tweeted ‘lol’[xxvi]  

And one astute dream points toward the underlying the phallic challenge of having “bigger” nukes:  

I had a dream that Trump sent air crafts in the shape of hot dogs (with ketchup and mustard) to North Korea as the start of WW3 and something tells me it was more so a vision rather than a dream[xxvii]

‍[i] @Girianax3 [ii]@_Mavawou_ fa [iii]@Glowing_Loves ‍ ‍[iv]@TrujilloCameron ‍ ‍[v]@IDraigo ‍ ‍[vi]@LittleKenobi ‍ ‍[vii]@MadYellowDog [viii]@InMemoryOfDevon ‍ ‍[ix]@angelalockard ‍ ‍[x]@hazelelelel ‍ ‍[xi]@luciusringwald ‍ ‍[xii]@ronaldstoner3 ‍ ‍[xiii]@larrywaynede ‍ ‍[xiv]@TexPine ‍ ‍[xv]@LisaBruhh ‍ ‍[xvi]@BtheOverthinker ‍ ‍[xvii]@KryckIund ‍ ‍[xviii]@PolarTron ‍ ‍[xix]@jimfosterfish ‍ ‍[xx]@aRELgoodTime ‍ ‍[xxi]@catdonuts69 ‍ ‍[xxii] @Bama_ramblings [xxiii]@Marissa_mjree14 ‍ ‍[xxiv]@Just_SomeChick ‍ ‍[xxv]@PilotVixen‍ ‍[xxvi] @edofthesheeran ‍ ‍[xxvii]@iyamjo_