Donald Trump announced that the U.S. nuclear arsenal was subject to a “complete update and renovation” during his first term and that he has now ordered new testing to “begin immediately.” The former president said the move was a direct response to similar, secret testing by other nations.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. He added that he “hated” the decision but was forced into it.
In a television interview, he specifically named China and Russia as culprits. “Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it,” he claimed. He dismissed skepticism by alleging the tests were happening “way underground.”
China’s foreign ministry flatly rejected the accusation. A spokesperson reinforced Beijing’s position as a “responsible nuclear-weapons state” that has long adhered to a self-imposed moratorium on testing.
Trump’s order has raised international alarms. It comes after Russia tested a new nuclear-powered missile, and it threatens to undo decades of progress on denuclearization, a topic Trump claimed he discussed with both President Putin and President Xi.
