On October 30th, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he had ordered the Pentagon to begin nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with China and Russia, just minutes before a summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping in South Korea.
The announcement follows Russian president Vladimir Putin’s successful test of a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, Poseidon, which can reach any continent and, he said, his enemies have “no way to intercept.” Trump took to social media, stating
Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.
Trump emphasized that the United States possesses more nuclear weapons than any other nation, noting a “complete update and renovation of existing weapons,” adding
Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years.
Trump provided no details on the specific nature of the tests but said the process would “begin immediately.”
Putin’s recent tests included a cruise missile launch on Sunday and the Poseidon drone on Wednesday. Trump criticized his Russian counterpart, saying he ought to end the war in Ukraine “instead of testing missiles.”
Historically, the U.S. conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992, with the last explosion taking place in September 1992. A moratorium followed under President George H.W. Bush, continued by subsequent administrations, with testing replaced by computer simulations and subcritical experiments.
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