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4h ago

Trump Reaffirms Plan to Resume U.S. Nuclear Testing, Declines to Detail Scope

Specifics remain unclear, prompting warnings from experts and the U.N.

FILE - A mushroom cloud rises from a test blast at the Nevada Test Site on June 24, 1957. (U.S. Energy Department via AP, File)
A sub-surface atomic test is shown March 23, 1955, at the Nevada Test Site near Yucca Flats, Nevada. In Truth Social post President Donald Trump said that "because of other countries testing programs," he has instructed the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons. (US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION VIA AP/FILE)
Trump's announcement on restarting US nuclear testing has raised more questions than it's answered.

Overview

  • Aboard Air Force One, Trump said “we’re going to do some testing” and would not rule out underground detonations, but gave no timeline or test type.
  • The Pentagon offered no details as experts noted any explosive tests would be run by the Energy Department’s NNSA, highlighting confusion over agency roles.
  • Strategic Command nominee Vice Adm. Richard Correll said he has seen no evidence of Russian or Chinese nuclear explosive tests; Moscow said its recent trials were not detonations and vowed to respond if the moratorium ends.
  • The United Nations and arms-control specialists warned that resuming explosive testing would undermine the test-ban norm and risk a wider arms race; the U.S. has not conducted such tests since 1992 and reactivating sites would likely take years.
  • The announcement followed Russia’s demonstrations of nuclear-powered delivery systems and preceded Trump’s meeting with Xi, while analysts flagged inaccuracies in his stockpile claims, with SIPRI estimating Russia holds slightly more warheads than the U.S.