Trump orders Pentagon to restart nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with other countries after 33-year halt
Washington- President Trump on Wednesday ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing “on an equal footing” with other countries’ testing, possibly ending a decades-long U.S. hiatus that dates back to the end of the Cold War.
The announcement came moments before Mr. Trump I walked into a high stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
“Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have directed the War Department to begin testing our nuclear weapons on an equal footing,” the president wrote on Truth Social, using his administration’s preferred term for the Department of Defense. “This process will begin immediately.”
It is not clear when and if the military will conduct testing, nor what the president means by resuming testing “on an equal footing.”
The United States conducted its last nuclear weapons test in Nevada in 1992. President George HW Bush later imposed a moratorium on testing in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.
China has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1996, and Russia – or the then Soviet Union – has not conducted such a test since 1990, although Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that his country had tested a new nuclear-powered drone, shortly after testing a new drone. nuclear-capable cruise missile.
But China has rapidly expanded its nuclear arsenal in recent years, a trend the Pentagon hopes to continue for the rest of the decade.
Mr. Trump’s meeting with Xi is expected to focus primarily on trade and tariffs, but security concerns remain in the U.S.-China relationship.
US military discusses missile launch this week in ‘show of force’ against recent Chinese aggression in South China Sea, CBS News reported earlier Thursday. And some Trump allies have encouraged the US president to recognize Taiwan’s independence, a move Beijing has long viewed as unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump used his day-long trip to Asia to strengthen relations with US allies in the region, such as Japan and South Korea, two rivals of China. Earlier Wednesday, he said he would allow South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarine.
