Trump calls on Pentagon to immediately resume US nuclear weapons testing

BUSAN, South Korea, Oct 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the U.S. military to immediately resume testing. nuclear weapons after an interval of 33 years, minutes before starting a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump made the surprise announcement on Truth Social while aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to meet Xi for a trade negotiation session in Busan, South Korea. He said he was instructing the Pentagon to test the United States. nuclear arsenal on “equal basis” with others nuclear powers.

“Due to other countries’ testing programs, I have ordered the War Department to begin testing our Nuclear Weapons on equal terms. That process will begin immediately,” Trump posted.

“Russia is second and China a distant third, but in five years they will be tied.”

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images

Nuclear test sites to be determined later

Later, on his way back to Washington, Trump said tests were needed to ensure Washington was on par with his rival. nuclear powers.

“As others are testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do it too,” Trump said aboard Air Force One, adding that nuclear Test sites would be determined later.

When asked if the world was entering a riskier phase nuclear weapons, Trump dismissed the threat and said American stockpiles were “well secured” before adding that he would welcome thenuclearization.

“I would like to see one ofnuclear“We have many and the second from Russia and the third from China and China will catch up within four or five years,” he said.

“In fact, we are talking to Russia about that and China would get on board with that if we do something.”

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive tests, which would be carried out by the National Service Nuclear Safety Administration, or flight testing nuclear-Missiles capable.

China more than doubled its nuclear arsenal in the last five years

Trump’s decision to restart nuclear The weapons tests follow a rapid expansion by China of its nuclear arsenal in recent years, and came just after Russia announced what it called a successful test of a nuclear-powered and nuclear-cruise missile capability, as well as a nuclear-Propelled torpedo

Trump addressed Russian moves aboard Air Force One earlier this week, telling reporters that President Vladimir Putin should work to end the war in Ukraine “instead of testing missiles.”

Beijing has more than doubled the size of its arsenal to an estimated 600 nuclear weapons in 2025 from 300 weapons in 2020, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

He said U.S. military officials estimate China will have more than 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030. A Victory Day parade in September revealed five nuclear capabilities that may all reach the continental United States, CSIS said.

The Washington-based Arms Control Association says the United States has an arsenal of 5,225 nuclear warheads and Russia has 5,580.

Putin said on Wednesday that Russia had successfully tested a Poseidon. nuclearPropulsion super torpedo that, according to military analysts, is capable of devastating coastal regions by causing vast radioactive waves in the ocean.

While Trump has toughened both his rhetoric and his stance on Russia, Putin has publicly shown his nuclear muscles with the test of a new Burevestnik cruise missile on October 21 and nuclear launch drills on October 22.

Negative reactions to Trump’s post

The reaction to Trump’s announcement about the tests was immediate. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, said on X: “I will introduce legislation to end this.”

Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association, said it would take the United States at least 36 months to resume containment. nuclear underground testing at the former testing site in Nevada.

“Trump is misinformed and out of touch. The United States has no technical, military or political reason to resume nuclear explosive tests for the first time since 1992,” Kimball said in X.

He added that Trump’s announcement could “trigger a chain reaction of nuclear tests by American adversaries and destroy the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In addition to providing technical data, an American test would be seen in Russia and China as a deliberate assertion of American strategic power. Putin has repeatedly said Russia will conduct tests if the United States does.

In August, Trump said he had discussed nuclear arms control with Putin and wanted China to get involved. Beijing responded by saying it was “unreasonable and unrealistic” to ask the country to join. nuclear disarmament negotiations with the two countries, since their arsenal was much smaller.

Trump was the first to state his intention to persecute nuclear arms control efforts in February, saying he wanted to start talks with both Putin and Xi about imposing limits on their arsenals.

The United States last tested a nuclear gun in 1992.

most important nuclear powers except North Korea stopped explosives nuclear tests in the 1990s. North Korea carried out its last nuclear test in 2017. Russia’s last confirmed test was in 1990, followed by the last US test in 1992 and China in 1996.

The United States opened the nuclear in July 1945 with the testing of a 20 kiloton atomic bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico, and then dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to force Japan to surrender in World War II.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Ismail Shakil, Kanishka Singh and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Donna Bryson, Lincoln Feast and Stephen Coates)