President Trump announced late Wednesday that the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing “immediately,” increasing pressure on Russia and China just hours ahead of his high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The announcement marked a reversal of a long-standing U.S. policy that has been in place since 1992, just before President George H.W. Bush banned such tests at the conclusion of the Cold War.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, from South Korea, where he later met with Mr. Xi.
“Because of the tremendous destructive power, I hated to do it, but I had no choice! Russia is second and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Mr. Trump continued. “That process will begin immediately.”
Mr. Trump did not say what nuclear weapons testing would involve or how it would be carried out. At the meeting with Mr. Xi, the president dodged reporters’ questions about the announcement.
The post was made while Mr. Trump was on his helicopter, which was on the way to meet Mr. Xi at the Gimahe International Airport in South Korea. It marks the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Mr. Trump began his second term and immediately imposed steep tariffs on China.
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The announcement also comes days after Mr. Trump warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U. S. stationed nuclear submarines “right off their shores,” in response to Moscow’s recent missile tests.
Mr. Trump’s comments came on Monday while answering reporters’ questions aboard Air Force One.
“I know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shores. So, I mean, it doesn’t have to go 8,000 miles, and they’re not playing games with us. We’re not playing games with them either,” he said.
“We test missiles all the time. But, you know, we do have a submarine, a nuclear submarine. We don’t need to go 8,000 miles. And I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing 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 [to be] fourth year. That’s what you ought to do instead of testing missiles,” he added.
Mr. Putin last week held a nuclear launch drill and on Sunday announced that Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, a nuclear-capable weapon Moscow says can pierce any defense shield.
On Wednesday, Mr. Putin said Russia had tested a Poseidon nuclear-capable super torpedo and it had been a great success. A Poseidon submarine is a nuclear-capable torpedo capable of triggering radioactive ocean swells that could render coastal cities uninhabitable.
“For the first time, we managed not only to launch it with a launch engine from a carrier submarine, but also to launch the nuclear power unit on which this device passed a certain amount of time,” Mr. Putin said while visiting a Moscow hospital where soldiers being injured in the Ukraine war are being treated. “There is nothing like this.”
“This is a huge success,” Mr. Putin said of the Poseidon.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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