On Thursday, minutes before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump ordered the military to resume nuclear testing after 33 years.
Trump made the surprising statement on Truth Social while travelling in his Marine One helicopter to Busan, South Korea, to negotiate trade with Xi. He ordered the Pentagon to test the US nuclear weapons “equally” with other nuclear nations.
“I ordered the Department of War to test our nuclear weapons equally since other nations are doing so. Trump tweeted, “That process will start immediately.
“Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”
Nuclear testing sites will be chosen later.
Trump later suggested testing was vital to keep up with other nuclear nations on his way back to Washington.
“With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” Trump said on Air Force One. Nuclear test locations would be chosen later.
Trump said US stocks were “well locked up” and the world was not entering a more dangerous nuclear era, adding that he would welcome denuclearisation.
“I’d like to see a denuclearisation because we have so many and Russia’s second and China’s third and China will catch up within four or five years,” stated.
“We are actually talking to Russia about that and China would be added to that if we do something.”
Trump may have been alluding to nuclear-explosive testing by the National Nuclear Safety Administration or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
CHINA MORE Than DOUBLED NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN 5 YEARS
Trump restarted nuclear weapons testing after China rapidly expanded its atomic stockpile and Russia declared a successful test of a nuclear-powered cruise missile and torpedo.
Earlier this week, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that Putin could finish the Ukraine crisis “instead of testing missiles.”
According to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Beijing has more than quadrupled its nuclear arsenal to 600 in 2025 from 300 in 2020.
By 2030, US military authorities expect China to have over 1,000 nuclear weapons. CSIS reported five nuclear capabilities that might reach the continental US from a September Victory Day parade.
The Washington-based Arms Control Association reports 5,225 US nuclear warheads and 5,580 Russian.
Putin announced Wednesday that Russia had tested a Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo that military analysts say can devastate coastal areas by causing radioactive ocean swells.
Putin officially tested a new Burevestnik cruise missile on October 21 and held nuclear launch drills on October 22 as Trump intensified his rhetoric and attitude toward Russia.
Negative Trump post reactions
Donald Trump’s testing announcement was met with immediate response. Nevada Democratic Representative Dina Titus stated on X: “I’ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.”
According to Arms Control Association director Daryl Kimball, the US would need 36 months to begin underground nuclear tests at the Nevada test site.
“Trump is ignorant and disconnected. Kimball said on X that the US has no scientific, military, or political rationale to resume nuclear testing since 1992.
He said Trump’s announcement may “trigger a chain reaction of nuclear testing by US adversaries, and blow apart the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
In addition to technical facts, a US test would be perceived by Russia and China as a strategic power play. Putin has consistently indicated that Russia will test if the US does.
Trump stated he wanted China to join nuclear arms limitation talks with Putin in August. Beijing said it was “unreasonable and unrealistic” to require the country to join atomic disarmament talks with the two countries because its arsenal was smaller.
Trump announced in February that he wants to talk to Putin and Xi about limiting their nuclear arsenals.
In 1992, the US last tested nuclear weapons.
Except for North Korea, most nuclear nations discontinued explosive atomic testing in the 1990s. The last North Korean nuclear test was in 2017. Last confirmed tests: Russia in 1990, the US in 1992, and China in 1996.
In July 1945, the US tested a 20-kiloton atomic bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and in August 1945, it dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force Japan to surrender.
