Trump appears to suggest US will resume testing nuclear weapons

A sub-surface atomic test at the Nevada Test Site near Yucca Flats, Nevada, in 1955. Picture: US Atomic Energy Commission via AP

President Donald Trump appeared to suggest the US will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China.

There was no indication the US would start detonating warheads, but the president offered few details about what seemed to be a significant shift in US policy.

He made the announcement on social media minutes before he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea.

When he spoke to reporters later aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington, he offered little clarity.

The US military already regularly tests its missiles that are capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, but it has not detonated the weapons since 1992 because of a test ban.

But the president suggested that changes were necessary because other countries were testing weapons.

It was unclear what he was referring to, but it evoked Cold War-era escalations.

“Because of other countries’ testing programmes, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis,” he said in a post on Truth Social. “That process will begin immediately.”

Mr Trump ignored a question from a reporter about his post as he sat face-to-face with Mr Xi in Busan, a meeting that focused on trade issues between the two countries.

When he spoke to reporters later, Mr Trump appeared to be conflating the testing of missiles that deliver a nuclear warhead with the testing of the warheads.

Other countries, he said, “seem to all be nuclear testing” but when it comes to the US, “we have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing”.

“I see them testing and I say, well, if they’re going to test, I guess we have to test,” Mr Trump said as he continued speaking to reporters.

He was asked where the tests would take place and said: “It’ll be announced. We have test sites.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week announced that Russia tested a new atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone and a new nuclear-powered cruise missile.

He did not announce any tests of Russia’s nuclear weapons, however, which last happened in 1990.

Mr Trump did not specifically mention the Russian tests in his post, but alluded to the nuclear stockpiles controlled by both Mr Xi and Mr Putin, saying: “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”

Mr Putin in 2023 signed a bill revoking Russia’s ratification of a global nuclear test ban, which Moscow said was needed to put Russia on par with the US.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was adopted in 1996 and bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, was signed by then US president Bill Clinton but never ratified by the Senate.

Russia in 2023 said it would only resume tests of its nuclear weapons if Washington did it first.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson called on the US to refrain from carrying out nuclear tests.

“China hopes the US will earnestly fulfill its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and honor its commitment to suspend nuclear testing,” Guo Jiakun said at a briefing in Beijing.

Japanese survivors of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War condemned Mr Trump’s announcement.

“The act vehemently opposes all countries that are endeavouring to achieve a nuclear-free and peaceful world and absolutely cannot be tolerated,” said Jiro Hamasumi, secretary general of Nihon Hidankyo, a survivors’ organisation that won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.