Overview
- Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, the president declined to specify whether the planned activities would involve subcritical experiments or explosive detonations.
- The Pentagon defended the move as a responsible step to preserve credible deterrence, with Vice President JD Vance saying tests are needed to ensure the arsenal works properly.
- The United Nations urged that no nuclear tests be conducted, China called on Washington to respect the global test ban regime, and Iran condemned the decision as irresponsible.
- Japan’s hibakusha organization Nihon Hidankyo, a 2024 Nobel Peace laureate, protested to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and called the order totally unacceptable.
- Following the announcement, a planned Trump–Putin summit in Budapest was canceled, and SIPRI data undercut the president’s claim that the U.S. has the largest nuclear arsenal.