Trump orders Pentagon to restart US nuclear weapons testing

BUSAN,— U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the immediate resumption of American nuclear weapons testing, ending a 33-year pause just minutes before a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the South Korean port city of Busan.

Trump issued the surprise directive on his Truth Social account while traveling aboard Marine One. The post stated that he had instructed the Department of Defense to begin testing the U.S. nuclear arsenal “on an equal basis” with other global nuclear powers.

“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,” Trump wrote.

He added that “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years.”

The decision, according to Russian state news agency RIA, prompted a senior lawmaker in Moscow to warn that it could mark the start of a new period of global instability.

China’s Foreign Ministry responded by urging Washington to adhere to its moratorium on nuclear testing and maintain what it called international strategic balance and stability.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s order referred to full-scale nuclear explosive testing, which would involve the National Nuclear Security Administration, or to flight tests of nuclear-capable missiles.

No major nuclear power besides North Korea has carried out an explosive nuclear test in more than a quarter-century.

Speaking later aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington, Trump said testing was necessary to ensure that the U.S. kept pace with other nations.

“With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” Trump told reporters. He said specific test sites would be determined later.

Asked if renewed testing could heighten global nuclear risks, Trump said the U.S. arsenal was “secure and locked,” adding that he still supported eventual denuclearization.

“I’d like to see a denuclearization because we have so many and Russia’s second and China’s third,” he said. “China will catch up within four or five years. We’re actually talking to Russia about that, and China would be added to those talks if we move forward.”

Trump’s directive follows reports of rapid expansion in China’s nuclear stockpile and new weapons testing in Russia. Moscow recently claimed to have tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a nuclear-capable torpedo.

Earlier this week, Trump criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he should “focus on ending the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles.”

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington said Beijing’s arsenal had more than doubled, rising from about 300 nuclear warheads in 2020 to roughly 600 in 2025.

The think tank said the U.S. military believes China could have more than 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030.

CSIS also noted that China displayed several nuclear-capable systems capable of reaching the continental United States during a Victory Day parade in September.

According to the Washington-based Arms Control Association, the United States holds about 5,225 nuclear warheads, compared with Russia’s 5,580.

Russian President Putin announced this week that his country successfully tested a Poseidon nuclear-powered torpedo, described by military analysts as capable of producing massive radioactive ocean waves.

Russia also carried out tests of a Burevestnik cruise missile and nuclear launch exercises earlier this month.

Reaction in Washington was swift. Representative Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada, said on X that she would introduce legislation to block any return to nuclear testing.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said resuming explosive testing would take at least 36 months because of technical and safety requirements at the Nevada Test Site.

“Trump is misinformed and out of touch,” Kimball said. “The U.S. has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992.”

Analysts warned that renewed U.S. testing could set off a chain reaction, prompting other countries to follow suit and potentially undermining the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Putin has previously stated that Russia would conduct its own tests if the United States did so first.

Trump said in August that he had discussed arms control with Putin and wanted China involved, but Beijing called such proposals “unreasonable and unrealistic.”

The last U.S. nuclear test was conducted in 1992, following Russia’s final test in 1990 and China’s in 1996.

North Korea remains the only country to have tested since 2000, conducting its most recent detonation in 2017.

The first American nuclear test was carried out in July 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico, leading to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II.

(With files from Reuters)