Question: In the [the final Trump-Clinton presidential debate](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/19/the-final-trump-clinton-debate-transcript-annotated/), Hillary Clinton said:

> 
> But here's the deal. The bottom line on nuclear weapons is that when the president gives the order, it must be followed. There's about four minutes between the order being given and the people responsible for launching nuclear weapons to do so. And that's why 10 people who have had that awesome responsibility have come out and, in an unprecedented way, said they would not trust Donald Trump with the nuclear codes or to have his finger on the nuclear button.
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Some people, such as commenters on [this Reddit forum](https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/58ein3/just_want_to_point_out_that_clinton_just_told_the/?st=IUHUT0Y3&sh=ae0171fe) are concerned that that information is classified, and should not have been publicized.

Is that information classified by the US military?

Answer: 
**No, this is not classified information.**

There have been plenty of descriptions of the timeline to launch US nuclear weapons, most much more detailed than anything Secretary Clinton said, and none of the people publishing them have been prosecuted. Also the articles giving those details are still easily available, and have been for years, indicating that the US military does not see any problem with them being published.

Here are some examples:

* [NTI](http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/launch-under-attack-feasible/)
* [Foreign Policy](https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/05/our-nuclear-procedures-are-crazier-than-trump/)
* [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-nuclear-weapon-launch/)
* [GlobalNews](http://globalnews.ca/news/2862433/why-a-nuclear-mutiny-against-a-president-donald-trump-would-likely-fail/)

EDIT: While it is technically possible for information to be both classified and widely known to the public (for example the location of a US aircraft carrier may be technically classified, even when it is in port and visible to anyone for miles around) revealing such information is not a crime if it could be obtained from non-classified sources, and does no harm to US interests, making the question pretty much moot.
No.

<https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/05/our-nuclear-procedures-are-crazier-than-trump/>

The author bases his estimate on information gleaned from a 30-year old book, so it's not exactly *new* information.

[Bloomberg also reported on this back in September](http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-nuclear-weapon-launch/).

> 
> About five minutes may elapse from the president’s decision until intercontinental ballistic missiles blast out of their silos, and about fifteen minutes until submarine missiles shoot out of their tubes. Once fired, the missiles and their warheads cannot be called back.
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Not exactly four minutes, but I think that would be quibbling.