Washington Free Beacon senior writer Adam Kredo warned that Russia and China could use electro-magnetic pulse events, or EMPs, to "completely degrade" the United States' infrastructure in a war during an appearance on Dr. Drew Midday Live with Leeann Tweeden on Wednesday.

Kredo discussed EMPs and his reporting that the Trump administration is taking steps to protect the United States from EMP events.

Kredo commented that an electromagnetic pulse is "the type of thing that can occur naturally, but also can be weaponized," adding that China and Russia have taken steps "to weaponize this technology."

"And with really a single pulse attack you can essentially knock out most of a place's critical infrastructure," Kredo continued. "We're talking the electricity grid, emergency services, banking, everything that's posted online. So it's really a huge threat and it's fascinating because this is the first time a White House has actually tried to develop a plan to counter it. And I would say they're a little bit behind the times, but it's good to see them catching up."

In a large-scale conflict, Kredo said, Russia and China "could certainly use an EMP effect to completely degrade the systems."

He noted, however, that he expects a more "comprehensive plan" for protecting against EMP events could come "in about a year."

A new executive order from the Trump administration declares it to be "the policy of the United States to prepare for the effects of EMPs through targeted approaches that coordinate whole-of-government activities and encourage private-sector engagement."

Kredo said putting infrastructure underground is one practical step to protect against EMPs, adding that countries such as Iran have most of their infrastructure underground "housed in bunkers that are virtually impenetrable even by bunker buster bombs that are pretty sophisticated."

Kredo also said "putting firewalls in the system" would be another useful step.

"If something is tripped, there needs to be a way to protect from it going downstream," Kredo said.