Trump Orders Immediate Nuclear Weapons Testing, Ending 30-Year Pause
In a stunning reversal of decades of US policy, President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the United States will “immediately begin” testing nuclear weapons, a move he justified by citing the testing programs of Russia and China. The dramatic declaration was made on his Truth Social platform just hours before his highly anticipated face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
In his post, Trump stated that while he “HATED” the idea due to their “tremendous destructive power,” he felt he had “no choice” but to act. “Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” he wrote. The announcement signals an end to the voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing that the US has observed since 1992.Trump’s post also made the assertion that the United States possesses “more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” a claim that contradicts independent assessments from arms control experts who place Russia’s arsenal as the world’s largest.
He claimed this was the result of a “complete update and renovation” during his first term and warned that while China is currently a “distant third,” it would achieve parity within five years.The timing of the announcement is highly strategic, coming just before his crucial meeting with President Xi in Busan, where the two leaders are expected to discuss a range of contentious issues, including the ongoing trade war, fentanyl trafficking, and restrictions on technology firms like TikTok.
Trump’s directive to resume nuclear testing is likely to add a new layer of tension to the already fraught relationship and is expected to send shockwaves through the international arms control community. The Pentagon has yet to issue an official statement on the logistics or timeline for the resumption of tests�.
