US President Donald Trump has returned to the US following a surprise directive to begin testing nuclear weapons, raising the specter of renewed tensions between the superpowers.
Trump announced the order on social media just as he attended a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.
It came days after Russia said it had tested nuclear-powered cruise missiles and naval drones.
The blunt statement from Trump, who often brags about being a “peace president,” left much unanswered.
It was especially unclear whether he meant testing weapons systems or actually conducting test explosions – something the US has not done since 1992.
“Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have directed the War Department to begin testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump also said that the US has more nuclear weapons than any other country and that he achieved this during his first term as president.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its latest annual report that Russia possesses 5,489 nuclear warheads, compared with 5,177 for the United States and 600 for China.
In his post, Trump said – minutes ahead of his meeting with Xi – that China was expected to be “equal within five years,” without substantiating the claim.
China and Russia express their concerns
Responding to Trump’s announcement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged the US to “seriously adhere” to a global nuclear test ban.
Russia wondered whether Trump was well informed about his activities.
“President Trump mentioned in his statement that other countries are testing nuclear weapons. Until now, we did not know that anyone was testing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The recent Russian weapons exercises “cannot in any way be interpreted as a nuclear test,” Peskov said. “We hope the information was properly communicated to President Trump.”
Peskov then suggested that Russia would conduct its own nuclear warhead tests if Trump did so first.
“If anyone deviates from the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly,” Peskov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that if a country tests a nuclear weapon, Russia will test it too.
Both countries have a de facto moratorium on testing nuclear warheads, although Russia and the United States regularly hold military exercises involving nuclear-capable systems.
The US has been a signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty since 1996, which bans all nuclear test explosions for both military and civilian purposes.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said through his deputy spokesman that “nuclear testing cannot be authorized under any circumstances.”
Trump, in his remarks to reporters, also repeated an earlier claim that he wants negotiations on reducing nuclear forces.
“Denuclearization would be a great thing,” he said. “It’s something we’re actually talking about with Russia, and China would be added to that if we do anything.”
Last US test in 1992
The US conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between July 16, 1945, when the first test was conducted in New Mexico, and 1992, as well as two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II.
It is the only country that has used nuclear weapons in combat.
The last U.S. nuclear test explosion occurred in September 1992, with a 20-kiloton underground detonation at the Nuclear Security Site in Nevada.
Then-President George HW Bush imposed a moratorium on further testing in October 1992, which has been continued by successive administrations.
Nuclear tests were replaced by non-nuclear and subcritical experiments using advanced computer simulations.
No nuclear power – except North Korea most recently in 2017 – has conducted explosive nuclear tests in the past 25 years.
Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada responded that she would introduce legislation to “end” any attempt to reinstate live gun testing in her state.
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, also a Nevada Democrat, said in a post on
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