United States President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, citing similar programmes by China and Russia.
The announcement came moments before a crucial summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.
“Because of other countries testing programmes, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote on social media, specifically referencing Russia and China.
The directive follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Wednesday that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, despite warnings from Washington.
Trump stated that the US possesses more nuclear weapons than any other nation, praising his administration’s efforts to conduct “a complete update and renovation of existing weapons.”
“Russia is second, and China is a distant third but will be even within five years,” he added.
According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, nine countries currently possess nuclear weapons: Russia, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea.
Of approximately 12,331 nuclear warheads globally, Russia owns more than 5,500, whilst the United States possesses 5,044.
Trump did not provide details about the nature of the testing programme but said it would “begin immediately.”
Putin’s Wednesday announcement marked the second weapons test in recent days. Speaking from a military hospital treating wounded Russian soldiers, he described the unmanned drone torpedo, dubbed “Poseidon,” as impossible to intercept.
He claimed Poseidon travels faster than conventional submarines, dives deeper, and can reach any continent globally.
Following Putin’s first cruise missile test on Sunday, Trump criticised the Russian leader, suggesting he should focus on ending the war in Ukraine “instead of testing missiles.”
A planned summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest was cancelled last week.
The United States conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between 1945—beginning with the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico on July 16—and 1992. The nation also carried out two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II.
The last US nuclear test explosion occurred in September 1992, involving a 20-kiloton underground detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.
President George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests in October 1992, which successive administrations maintained. Nuclear testing was subsequently replaced by non-nuclear and subcritical experiments using advanced computer simulations.
Trump’s announcement comes as he meets with Xi in South Korea, marking the first face-to-face encounter between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies during the Republican president’s second term.
