Misinformed and out of touch”: Trump orders nuclear weapons testing to begin “immediately

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he has instructed the Department of War to “immediately” bring back nuclear weapons testing, on par with Russia and China.

Trump’s announcement was made in a post on Truth Social, just before he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” Trump wrote. 

“This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”   

In response, Guo Jiakun, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, called on the U.S. to prioritize “global strategic balance and stability” over nuclear testing. 

“China hopes that the U.S. will earnestly abide by its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and its commitment to a ‘moratorium on nuclear testing,’ and take concrete actions to uphold the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime,” Jaikun said on Thursday.  

A senior Russian official also warned that the renewed nuclear testing could cause a “chain response” that would lead to “chaos” in global security.

Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of Arms Control Association, called the move “misinformed and out of touch” in a post on X, warning that it “could trigger a chain reaction of nuclear testing by U.S. adversaries.”

“Trump’s policy is incoherent: calling for denuclearization talks one day, threatening nuclear tests the next,” Kimball wrote.

The U.S. is roughly on par with Russia’s nuclear weapon stockpile, with each country possessing over 5,000 warheads. China has around 600, and may have 1,000 by 2030, with six other nations (France, the U.K., Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea) owning nuclear weapons. None of the countries, with the exception of North Korea, have tested a nuclear device since 1992, though Russia did recently test an atomic-powered, nuclear-capable missile that has a practically unlimited range. Trump criticized the test, calling on Russia to end its war in Ukraine, “instead of testing missiles.”