Here's what happens to the 'nuclear football' if Trump skips Biden's inauguration
- American presidents are accompanied by a military aide carrying a briefcase with the tools necessary for nuclear war.
- During presidential inaugurations, nuclear command authority and the "nuclear football," as the briefcase is called, are transferred to the new president.
- But President Donald Trump says he will not participate in President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, which could complicate the transfer.
- The Pentagon told Insider there was a plan for the transfer in that scenario but declined to provide details. Nuclear-weapons experts and a former military aide who carried the briefcase were able to offer some insight though.