Ahead of his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he has instructed the Department of Defense to immediately resume testing of nuclear weapons to maintain parity with other 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 on Truth Social.
Trump noted that while Russia is second in nuclear capabilities and China is currently a distant third, he expects China’s arsenal to grow significantly within five years.
The announcement comes amid escalating nuclear posturing. Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed on Wednesday that Russia successfully tested a Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo, capable of devastating coastal regions with radioactive ocean swells. Earlier this month, Russia also tested a Burevestnik cruise missile and conducted nuclear launch drills.
The U.S. last conducted a nuclear test in 1992. Such tests provide crucial technical data on weapon functionality and serve as a visible demonstration of strategic strength. Analysts say any U.S. test would be interpreted by Russia and China as a deliberate assertion of power.
The nuclear era began in the United States in July 1945 with the Alamogordo atomic bomb test, followed by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which helped bring World War Two to an end.
