Re: The Truth?
Oh absolutely it's just that the president doesn't have a button he/or she can press to "Launch the missiles". They do have their Sealed Authenticator System Card (AKA the biscuit etc.) that identifies them to the military so that they don't accept just anyone impersonating the great Orange One. Clinton infamously lost his and Reagan was separated from his when the assasination attempt took place. It was in his wallet which the FBI took along with the clothes he was wearing and possesions as evidence.
If it was a Bolt Out Of the Blue attack AKA a BOOB attack then yes the president may have seconds to authorise a launch. If no launch has been detected and everything is normal then I believe from an interview I heard that the National Command Authority (POTUS and SecDef) have to agree to launch. Thankfully this has never been tested in real life and you'd have a defence secretary with a backbone. Mark Esper was removed after he authorised the no fly zone over the President Elect Biden residence in Delaware. El Presidente was very unhappy about somebody at cabinet level legitimising the new president.
The US submarine commanders recieve part of the safe combination (as the bloomberg article states) as part of the launch orders. In the UK it's much less restricted. If both the captain and the first officer decide to launch they can do so, orders or not*. We do have the best submarine command training course in the world known as the Perisher and other countries send their officers on it because it's that good. I know somebody who completed the Perisher and passed. It has a very high failure rate though and is very hard.
*The crew might try to stop them though.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
