Trump says nuclear weapons testing to resume in US after more than 30 years
President Donald Trump has called on US military leaders to continue testing US nuclear weapons to keep up with other countries such as Russia and China.
“Due to other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the War Department to begin testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” he wrote on social media just before meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Trump said the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country, with Russia second and China a “very distant third.” It has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1992.
This comes just days after Trump blamed Russia for testing a nuclear-powered missile that reportedly has unlimited range.
Trump acknowledged the “tremendous destructive power” of nuclear weapons in his post Wednesday night, but said he had “no choice” but to update and replace the U.S. arsenal during his first term in office.
He also said China’s nuclear program “will be equalized within 5 years.”
Trump’s post did not include details about how the tests would take place, but it was written that “the process will begin immediately.”
This marks a clear reversal of long-standing US policy. The last US nuclear weapons test was in 1992, before former Republican President George HW Bush declared a moratorium when the Cold War ended.
Trump’s post came just before Xi landed in South Korea for the first face-to-face meeting between the two since 2019. The post appeared while he was on a Marine One helicopter to meet Xi at Gimhae International Airport.
The last nuclear bomb test by the USA was on September 23, 1992. The testing took place at an underground facility in the western state of Nevada.
The project, codenamed Divider, was the 1,054th nuclear weapons test conducted by the United States, according to Los Alamos National Laboratory, which played a central role in the development of the world’s first atomic bomb.
The Nevada Test Site, located 65 miles (105 km) north of Las Vegas, is currently operated by the US government.
According to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, “The facility may be reauthorized for nuclear weapons testing if deemed necessary.”
