Trump Orders Pentagon to Resume Nuclear Weapons Testing
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, citing the need to maintain parity with China and Russia, just minutes before opening a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tokyo.
The announcement comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed the successful test of a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, dubbed Poseidon, which Moscow claims cannot be intercepted and can reach any continent.
Trump, in a social media post, stated: “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.” He noted that the United States currently possesses the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, followed by Russia and China, with China expected to catch up within five years.
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The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) reports that nine nations hold nuclear weapons, with Russia and the United States collectively controlling over 10,500 warheads of the roughly 12,331 worldwide.
Details of the planned U.S. nuclear tests remain scarce, though Trump said they would “begin immediately.” The decision marks a dramatic shift from the decades-long moratorium on U.S. nuclear testing, last observed in September 1992 under then-President George H.W. Bush, when underground detonations were replaced by computer-simulated subcritical experiments.
The move has heightened global concern, as Trump’s decision follows weeks of missile and drone tests by Russia and ongoing tensions over the war in Ukraine. During a prior test earlier this week, Trump criticised Putin, urging him to “end the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles.”
The summit between Trump and Xi is the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies during Trump’s second term, with diplomacy expected to dominate discussions amid growing military developments.
By PRNigeria
