GYEONGJU, South Korea — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has ordered the Defense Department to “immediately” resume testing nuclear weapons.
Trump announced the nuclear weapons testing before his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump said on Truth Social. “That process will begin immediately.”
The news comes after Russia announced the test of a new long-range nuclear-powered underwater weapon on Wednesday and recently tested a nuclear-capable missile.
The last confirmed nuclear test by the United States was in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush announced a moratorium on underground nuclear testing.
China’s last known testing of a nuclear weapon was in 1996.
Trump said the decision came down to being equal with Russia and China.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” he said. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”
According to The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Russia as having the most confirmed nuclear weapons — 5,449 to the United States’ 5,277.
FWRD AXIS News has reached out to the White House for clarification on Trump’s post.
“I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing for Putin. For Putin to be saying either, by the way, you ought to get the war ended. A war that should have taken one week is now in its, soon, fourth year; that’s what you ought to do instead of testing missiles,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday.
Several Democrats condemned Trump’s post, which said they were told by administration officials that nuclear testing would not happen.
“This directly contradicts the commitments I secured from Trump nominees — and the opinion of Administration officials who certify our nuclear stockpile — who’ve told me explosive nuclear testing would not happen & is unnecessary. I’ll fight to stop this,” Sen. Jacky Rosen wrote on X.
