Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to immediately begin testing nuclear weapons on an "equal basis" with Russia and China, in a social media post that came less than an hour before he met China's President Xi Jinping in South Korea for talks aimed at easing the trade war. The meeting was the first between the two leaders since 2019.
The United States last conducted a full nuclear test in 1992, and neither Russia nor China is known to have carried out a full explosive test since the same era. North Korea is the only country to have confirmed a full explosive test since 1998. However, Russia recently announced tests of nuclear-powered systems, including the Burevestnik cruise missile and a Poseidon super torpedo, with President Vladimir Putin saying the missile test had been successful.
Speaking on Air Force One after his meeting with Xi, Trump said he would "like to see" denuclearisation, adding that the US was "talking to Russia about that" and that China "would be added to that if we do something". China's foreign ministry, responding to the announcement, said Beijing hoped the US would honour the non-proliferation treaty and take actions that contribute to regional peace, rather than the opposite.
Trump's post claimed the US had more nuclear weapons than any other country, but the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons says Russia has more than 5,500 warheads compared with the US's 5,044. The last US test, codenamed "Divider", was carried out on 23 September 1992 at what is now the Nevada National Security Site, after which President George HW Bush announced a moratorium.
Nevada congresswoman Dina Titus said she would introduce legislation to stop the move, while the Kremlin has criticised Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile shield. The announcement comes amid intensified nuclear posturing by Russia and a break in US-Russia talks over the war in Ukraine. Trump's post referred to the Pentagon as the “Department of War”, an informal name for the department.
