Trump instructs Pentagon to start testing nuclear weapons ‘on an equal basis’ with Russia and China

By Simone McCarthy, Brad Lendon, Betsy Klein, CNN

Beijing/Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to begin testing US nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, heralding a potentially major shift in decades of US policy at a time of growing tensions between the world’s nuclear-armed superpowers.

Trump made the announcement moments before his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, for what had been billed as make-or-break talks intended to restore stability after almost a year of trade and economic turmoil.

In a post on social media Trump said, “The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” naming Russia as second and China as “a distant third” but catching up.

“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” Trump said.

CNN has reached out to the White House and Department of Defense for comment.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to a nuclear weapons test, or a test of a nuclear-capable weapons system. Not since the 1990s has one of the world’s three major military powers conducted a nuclear weapons test, with China having conducted its last known test in 1996.

The US hasn’t conducted a nuclear test since 1992, when it began a voluntary moratorium on such explosive testing. It’s not clear how quickly it could do so, with an August report from the Congressional Research Service saying it would take 24 to 36 months for the US to test a nuclear weapon after the president gives the order.

Trump’s apparent policy pivot comes at a fractious time in global geopolitics, where a growing great power rivalry between the US and China has deep echoes of the Cold War era. Meanwhile, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine raises the risk of a broader confrontation between Moscow and the West.

Washington has been watching closely as both China and Russia continue to develop and test advanced weapon systems capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week said that the country had tested a new nuclear-capable Burevestnik cruise missile and a nuclear-powered torpedo, known as the Poseidon, which the Russian leader boasted was without rival, according to Russian state media.

Russia, with some 6,000 warheads, and the United States with nearly that many account for 90% of the world’s arsenal, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

China is also believed to be rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal and may have 1,000 nuclear warheads by the end of the decade, according to a Pentagon report.

China has constructed at least three complexes for launching ballistic missiles in recent years, according to the Federation of American Scientists, and it test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean in 2024.

At a military parade in Beijing in September, China showed off its nuclear triad – systems that can launch nuclear-capable missiles by land, sea and air – for the first time.

When asked by a reporter later Thursday why he decided to announce the US nuclear testing plans right before his meeting with Xi, Trump said “it had to do with others.”

“They seem to all be nuclear testing,” Trump said, speaking from Air Force One. “We halted (testing) many years ago, but with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also.”

The US too has recently tested nuclear-capable weaponry, with the US Navy in September conducting four tests of its submarine-launched Trident missiles.

A new arms race?

Trump’s comments come as he concludes a trip that began with the US president touting his peace-making abilities in Malaysia, where he joined a signing ceremony for a peace accord on Thailand and Cambodia’s border conflict.

The US president has billed himself as a “peacemaker” and contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, while leaning into a “peace through strength” for the US military.

But the latest remarks, if operationalized, have the potential to significantly change the status quo of nuclear testing should American rivals move to mirror the US.

“If by testing he means nuclear explosive testing, that would be reckless, probably not possible for 18 months, would cost money that Congress would have to approve,” Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, told CNN.

Kristensen warned it would “most certainly” encourages countries like Russia, China, India and Pakistan to resume their own tests. “Unlike the United States, all these countries would have much to gain by restarting nuclear testing,” he added.

When asked Thursday whether the world was entering a “more risky environment” on nuclear issues, Trump maintained his goal was de-escalation.

“I’d like to see a denuclearization,” he said, pointing to the arsenals of the US, Russia and China. “We’re actually talking to Russia about that, and China would be added to that if we do something.”

The timing of Trump’s announcement is also significant for its potential implications on regional security in Asia, a region with numerous nuclear powers, including rival nations India and Pakistan, as well as North Korea, which analysts have warned in recent years could be preparing for a new nuclear test.

North Korea is responsible for the world’s most recent nuclear test in 2017– and all tests that have taken place in the 21st century. Only three countries – India, Pakistan and North Korea have tested nuclear weapons since a 1996 test ban treaty, according to the United Nations.

After testing cruise missiles earlier this week, Pyongyang said that it is taking steps to toughen its “nuclear combat posture” – a line not out of step with numerous bellicose statements from the country that has resisted calls to give up its nuclear arsenal.

There have been signs that a new era of nuclear testing may be in the offing. CNN reported in 2023 that the US, Russia and China had all built new facilities and dug new tunnels at their nuclear test sites in recent years, according to satellite imagery.

“There are really a lot of hints that we’re seeing that suggest Russia, China and the United States might resume nuclear testing,” Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told CNN at the time.

CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.

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