President Trump said Wednesday that he has instructed the Department of Defense (DOD) to immediately begin testing U.S. nuclear weapons on an equal footing with China and Russia.
“The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country,” Trump wrote. “This was accomplished, including the complete modernization and renewal of existing weapons, during my first term in office. Because of the enormous destructive power, I would have hated to do it, but I had no choice! Russia is in second place, China is in third place, but even within 5 years.”
The Hill has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
Trump’s announcement on TruthSocial came shortly before he was scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping face-to-face for the first time since 2019 in South Korea on Thursday.
Trump later ignored a question from a reporter about the move while meeting with Xi and the Chinese delegation in South Korea before reporters were escorted from the room.
The United States stopped explosive testing of nuclear weapons in 1992.
Trump’s former national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, Trump’s presidential candidate, in June last year agreed to test nuclear weapons if he won the White House election in 2024.
“Washington should test new nuclear weapons for their reliability and safety in the real world for the first time since 1992 — not just with computer models,” O’Brien said.books In an article for Foreign Affairs magazine published in June of last year. “If China and Russia continue to refuse to participate in arms control talks in good faith, the United States must also resume production of uranium-235 and plutonium-239, the primary fissile isotopes for nuclear weapons.”
Russia announced that it had tested its new cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.Known as Burevestniklast week, which allegedly flew 8,700 miles.
The test was met with international condemnation, including from Trump, who called it “inappropriate” as he pressures the Kremlin to come to the table and negotiate a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“You have to put an end to the war,” the president said on Monday. “The war that should have taken one week is now soon in its fourth year.” “That’s what you should do, instead of testing missiles.”
Trump added: “We test missiles all the time. They don’t play with us, and we don’t play with them either.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that MoscowTested successfully A new atomic-powered, nuclear-capable underwater drone. The test took place on Tuesday, with Putin claiming that the nuclear reactor powering the Poseidon drone is “100 times smaller” than those found in submarines.
Updated at 10:27 PM EST