After a pause of more than three decades, President Donald Trump has instructed the U.S. military to resume nuclear weapons testing immediately.
The directive from the Commander-in-Chief came just minutes before he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The announcement was delivered on Truth Social while the President was aboard Marine One, en route to a trade negotiation session in Busan, South Korea.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. 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. 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” wrote the President on October 29.
Following the meeting, Trump stated that testing was necessary to ensure the United States maintained its pace with rival powers.
“With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” said the President, per Reuters.
Trump said that nuclear test sites would be determined later.
When asked whether the world was entering a riskier period with respect to nuclear weapons, the President dismissed the risk, saying that American stockpiles were “well locked up.”
“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,” Trump added. “We are actually talking to Russia about that and China would be added to that if we do something.”
In just the past five years, China has rapidly expanded its nuclear arsenal, more than doubling it to an estimated 600 nuclear weapons this year, up from 300 in 2020, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The announcement from the President also comes on the heels of Moscow announcing what it claims was a successful test of a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile and a nuclear-powered torpedo.