Overview
- President Trump repeated that he has directed U.S. testing “on an equal basis,” while the White House framed any move as reciprocal to other nations’ actions.
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright said current plans focus on systems and component evaluations described as noncritical tests, not full-scale nuclear detonations.
- Senate Democrats introduced the No Nuclear Testing Without Approval Act to require congressional sign-off and to bar a U.S. nuclear test unless another state tests first.
- International monitoring experts and the CTBTO-linked network say they would detect underground blasts roughly a kiloton or larger and report no such tests since North Korea’s in 2017.
- Russia said its ministries are drafting proposals on possible test preparations in response to U.S. statements, while publicly seeking clarity on Washington’s intentions.