In a reversal of decades of post-Cold War restraint, United States President Donald Trump has ordered the immediate resumption of nuclear weapons testing.
Trump on Thursday ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, a practice that has been on a voluntary moratorium for the United States since 1992.
The announcement, made via social media just moments before a high-stakes trade meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after meeting the Chinese President in South Korea, Trump said the decision “had to do with others,” without naming specific countries.
“They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing … But with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” he said, adding that details on the planned tests would be announced later.
Before his meeting with Xi, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “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.”
It was not immediately clear what Trump meant by “equal basis.” The Department of Defense was rebranded the Department of War on Sept. 5 under an executive order, though Congress has not approved the change.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that Trump ordered nuclear weapons testing after Russia successfully conducted tests of advanced nuclear-capable delivery systems, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
Recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday defied Trump’s warnings, launching Moscow’s second test of a new nuclear weapons system.
Putin, last Sunday had oversaw a test of another advanced nuclear-capable weapon — the Burevestnik cruise missile, which he said had an “unlimited range”.
Moscow also conducted nuclear launch drills a day later.
“Yesterday, another test was conducted for another prospective system — the unmanned underwater device ‘Poseidon,’ also equipped with a nuclear power unit,” Putin said in televised remarks while visiting a military hospital treating Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
The Russian leader said there was “no way to intercept” the drone torpedo, which, he claimed can travel at a speed higher than conventional submarines and reach any continent in the world.
Putin said no country could match Poseidon’s speed and diving depth, adding, “It is unlikely that anything similar will appear in the near future.”
However, Trump, in his new directive, claimed that while the U.S. currently maintains the largest nuclear arsenal, both Russia and China are rapidly expanding their capabilities, with China projected to reach parity within five years.
Meanwhile, Trump’s claim has been challenged by estimates from the Arms Control Association, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and the Federation of American Scientists, Russia possesses the most nuclear weapons in the world.
Russia is estimated to have 5,459 nuclear weapons in 2025, compared to 5,177 for the U.S. and 600 for China, according to the Federation of American Scientists. The nonprofit was founded in 1945 by atomic scientists after World War II to advocate for international oversight of nuclear energy.
The order to resume nuclear weapons testing has been met with immediate and forceful international backlash. Critics argue that this action risks shattering international non-proliferation agreements, including the spirit of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans all nuclear explosions. Although the U.S. signed the CTBT in 1996, the Senate never ratified it.
Experts warn that the move could trigger a chain reaction, giving Russia and China the justification to immediately follow suit with their own live detonations, thereby reigniting a dangerous and costly global arms race not seen since the Cold War.
Many have voiced deep concern, urging the U.S. to adhere to restraint and pursue diplomatic channels rather than escalation.
The decision marks the end of a 33-year period during which the U.S. had refrained from explosive nuclear testing, a key symbolic measure for global disarmament.
While the announcement specified that the “process will begin immediately,” the actual logistics remain unclear. The last U.S. test was conducted at the Nevada Test Site in September 1992.
The U.S. has not conducted a live nuclear weapons test since 1992, when then-President George H.W. Bush imposed a unilateral testing moratorium.
In 1996, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by then-President Bill Clinton.
