President Trump has ordered the military to “immediately” begin testing nuclear weapons for the first time in more than three decades in response to the growing arsenal Russia and China are amassing, he announced Wednesday.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“That process will begin immediately,” the president added.
The US has not tested a nuclear explosive since 1992, observing a voluntary moratorium on the practice.
Between 1945 and 1992, more than 1,000 nuclear weapons tests were carried out by the US military.
Russia and China have not publicly disclosed any nuclear tests since the 1990s, but the latter is believed to have conducted secret, low-grade weapons tests in recent years.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to rule out future weapons tests involving nuclear explosions and has recently boasted about nuclear-capable missile and torpedo tests.
The nuclear torpedo, dubbed the Poseidon, is designed to trigger radioactive tsunamis up to 1,600-feet high from hundreds of miles away, according to Russia state media.
Moscow’s nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, meanwhile, has been described as a “tiny flying Chernobyl” and “invincible.”
In the recent Russian tests, however, nuclear warheads were not detonated, only the delivery systems for them were tried out.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” Trump wrote. “This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office.”
“Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years,” he warned.
On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump frequently referred to nuclear weapons as “the N-word,” because of their devastating power.
The president had also explained that his uncle, late MIT professor John Trump, taught him long ago that ”nuclear is so powerful.”
Trump’s announcement came ahead of his high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea Thursday.
The president did not answer a shouted question from a reporter about nuclear weapons testing as he and Xi walked into their meeting.
Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, accused Trump of being “misinformed and out of touch.”
“The U.S. has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992,” Kimball argued on X. “It would take [at] least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada.”
“No country except North Korea has conducted a nuclear test explosion in this century,” he asserted.
“By foolishly announcing his intention [to] resume nuclear testing, Trump will trigger strong public opposition in Nevada, from all U.S. allies, and it could trigger a chain reaction of nuclear testing by U.S. adversaries, and blow apart the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” Kimball wrote.
The Post has reached out to the White House for a response to Kimball’s criticism.
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