The decision was announced moments before a meeting aimed at restoring global stability
US President Donald Trump on Thursday promised to begin testing US nuclear weapons “on an equal footing” with Russia and China, heralding a potentially major shift in decades of US policy at a time of rising tensions between the world’s nuclear-armed superpowers.
Trump made the announcement moments before his long-awaited meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, for what had been billed as decisive talks aimed at restoring stability after nearly a year of trade and economic turmoil.
In a post on social media, Trump stated that “the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country”, referring to Russia as the second country and China as “a distant third”, but that it is catching up.
“Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the War Department to begin testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” Trump said.
CNN has contacted the White House and the 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. Since the 1990s, none of the world’s three largest military powers has carried out a nuclear weapons test, with China carrying out its last known test in 1996.
The USA carried out its last nuclear test in 1992, when it began a voluntary moratorium on this type of explosive testing. An August report from the Congressional Investigative Service said it would take 24 to 36 months for the U.S. to test a nuclear weapon after the president gives the order.
Trump’s apparent political turnaround comes at a fractured moment in global geopolitics, when a growing rivalry between the great powers of the US and China has deep echoes of the Cold War era. Meanwhile, Russia’s war in Ukraine increases the risk of a wider confrontation between Moscow and the West.
Washington has been closely watching as both China and Russia continue to develop and test advanced weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the country had tested a new nuclear-capable cruise missile and nuclear-powered torpedo, known as , which the Russian leader boasted was unrivaled, according to Russian state media.
Russia, with around six thousand warheads, and the United States, with almost the same number, represent 90% of the world’s arsenal, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this Thursday that Russia “will act accordingly” if any country withdraws from the moratorium on nuclear tests.
“There is, in fact, a moratorium [de testes nucleares] ongoing,” Peskov confirmed to journalists, adding that he was not aware of any nuclear tests carried out by Russia.
“Trump mentioned that other countries were allegedly testing nuclear weapons. Until now, we were not aware that anyone was testing. And if the reference was to the Burevestnik test [míssil de cruzeiro]which is nuclear-powered, this is in no way a nuclear test,” Peskov said.
“All countries are developing their defense systems,” he added.
It is also believed that China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal and could have a thousand nuclear warheads by the end of the decade, according to a Pentagon report.
In recent years, China has built at least three ballistic missile launch complexes, according to the Federation of American Scientists, and tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the Pacific Ocean in 2024.
During a military parade in Beijing in September, China displayed for the first time its nuclear triad – systems that can launch nuclear-capable missiles from land, sea and air.
When asked by a reporter why he decided to announce US nuclear testing plans immediately before his meeting with Xi, Trump said it “had to do with others.”
“It looks like everyone is doing nuclear testing,” Trump said, speaking from Air Force One. “We stopped [os testes] many years ago, but with others testing, I think it is appropriate that we do so too.”
The US has also recently tested nuclear weaponry, with the US Navy carrying out four tests of its submarine-launched Trident missiles in September.
A new arms race?
Trump’s comments come at the end of a trip that began with the US president promoting his peacemaking capabilities in Malaysia, where he participated in a signing ceremony for a peace agreement on the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.
The president of the United States has presented himself as a “peacemaker” and candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, while advocating “peace through strength” for the American Armed Forces.
But the latest observations, if operationalized, have the potential to significantly alter the status quo of nuclear tests, if American rivals get closer to the USA.
“If by testing he means testing nuclear explosives, that would be reckless, it would probably not be possible for 18 months, it would cost money that Congress would have to approve,” Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, tells CNN.
Kristensen warned that it would “certainly” encourage countries such as Russia, China, India and Pakistan to resume their own testing. “Unlike the United States, all of these countries would have a lot to gain from the resumption of nuclear testing,” he added.
When asked whether the world was entering a “more risky environment” on nuclear issues, Trump maintained his goal of defusing the situation.
“I would like to see denuclearization,” he said, pointing to the arsenals of the US, Russia and China. “We are talking to Russia about this, and China would be added to this if we do something.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that China hoped the US would also uphold “its commitment to suspend nuclear tests and take concrete measures to safeguard international nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation regime, and maintain global strategic harmony and stability.”
The timing of Trump’s announcement is also significant for its potential regional security implications in Asia, a region with numerous nuclear powers, including rival nations such as 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 for all tests carried out in the 21st century. According to the United Nations, only three countries – India, Pakistan and North Korea – have tested nuclear weapons since the 1996 test ban treaty.
After testing cruise missiles earlier this week, Pyongyang said it is taking steps to harden its “nuclear combat posture” – a line that is not out of line with the country’s numerous bellicose statements that have resisted calls to give up its nuclear arsenal.
There are signs that a new era of nuclear testing may be upon us. 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 images.
“There are really a lot of hints that we are seeing that suggest that Russia, China and the United States may resume nuclear testing,” added Jeffrey Lewis, professor at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, to CNN at the time.
CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed to this report
