Overview
- President Donald Trump reiterated that he has ordered the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing, claiming rivals are secretly conducting underground detonations.
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the planned work involves system or “noncritical” tests without nuclear explosions, contradicting an explosive testing restart.
- Pakistan publicly rejected Trump’s allegation that it has resumed nuclear tests, joining China’s earlier denial and reinforcing skepticism from nonproliferation experts.
- Navigational warnings point to a routine, unarmed Minuteman III launch from Vandenberg to the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein this week, a regularly scheduled ICBM flight test.
- Analysts warn that breaking the three-decade moratorium could spur reciprocal testing by other nuclear states and note that any U.S. return to explosive detonations would take years and major investment.