Chris Ratcliffe / EPA
US President Donald Trump says he wants to resume nuclear testing, but he doesn’t seem to know why. It could be another example of Trump Pavlovianly taking the Russian bait, or another random thought that escaped the weak gravity of his attention span.
Shortly before his meetings with the leader of China, Xi Jinping, the president of the United States, Donald Trumpmade some comments about nuclear weapons, or “nuclear”, as he usually calls them.
Trump wants to resume testing nuclear bombs, something no nuclear state has done. except North Koreahas done since the last century.
Donald Trump’s intention for the War Department to “start testing” United States nuclear weapons comes after Vladimir Putin having announced a successful test with ““, a nuclear-capable submarine missile.
But his reasoning is somewhat confusing, says: in the space of a brief announcement, managed to get a lot of things wrongwhich is worrying, because Donald Trump is the only person in America who has authority to order the use of nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday night, the president posted this message on his Truth Social website:
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was achieved, including a complete upgrade and renewal of existing weapons, during my First Term. Due to the tremendous destructive power, I HATED doing it, but I had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be at the same level within 5 years. Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the War Department to begin testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal footing. This process will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP“
Almost none of this is correct. Russia has the largest arsenal of nuclear bombs in the world, in large part because the Russians still retain many smaller tactical weaponsdesigned for use on the battlefield.
Trump is right when he says that China is much further behind; probably have something like 600 warheadsmeaning it would have to produce almost 1,000 bombs a year to catch up to the US or Russia by the end of the decade. Is it possible? Maybe, but Beijing has only added about 100 warheads in the last two years.
Furthermore, It is not true that the US has created an arsenal completely new and shiny during Trump’s first term.
It is true that the United States is about to spend a gigantic amount of money, around 1 billion dollarsto modernize its strategic nuclear arsenal, but this plan has been ongoing since the Obama administration.
Then, What exactly is Trump talking about?? Interpreting the president’s publications is never easy, but Trump is probably angry with Russia’s claim to have tested a long-range cruise missile nuclear powered, the . But Donald Trump shouldn’t worry too much: Burevestnik is a truly stupid ideasays The Atlantic.
Cruise missiles are stealthy and difficult to counterbecause they can fly low and follow the terrain — but they are basically just small aircraft unmanned missiles that use normal fuel and therefore have a much more limited range than ballistic missiles.
The Russians, however, now claim to have a cruise missile powered by a nuclear reactor that can fly halfway around the world.
Vladimir Putin first announced this project in 2018, but Burevestnik has all the hallmarks of Soviet-era braggadocionormally on a great technical achievement that does not offer much advantage strategic.
In the old days, the Soviets had a compulsion to assert that the Soviet Union had the biggest and best of everythingwhich led to the Cold War-era anecdote that the Kremlin boasted of manufacturing the largest microchips of the world.
In any case, resuming nuclear testing is a bad ideanot just because it would undermine America’s long-standing commitment to containing a global arms race, but because detonating warheads to see if they actually work not needed for a long time.
The nuclear tests don’t make much sense for national security from the USA, but are a great way to increase tension international. During the Cold War, superpowers sometimes engaged in nuclear testing as a way of signal determination and firmness.
Unfortunately, these tests mainly served to make both East and West nervous, pollute parts of the United States and the former Soviet Union, and make many people sick.
Trump seems to be stuck in this kind of cold war mentalitytrying to show its toughness by resuming testing, especially since it seems to take it personally when Russia engages in occasional nuclear braggadocio.
Of course, another possibility is that Donald Trump’s announcement simply don’t mean anything.It wouldn’t be the first time.
In the past, the statements by the president of the United States were political. But Trump says a lot of things, and changes course regularly; Often, what appear to be important statements turn out to be random thoughts what escaped the weak gravity of their attention span.
In any case, resuming nuclear tests is not easy: such tests require a lot of preparation and infrastructure, unless Trump’s objective is merely to explode some weapons and call it a “test”.
For now, this nuclear testing announcement appears to be yet another example of Trump Pavlovianly taking the Russian bait.
Resuming nuclear testing makes Donald Trump weak and petulant, not strong and confident. No US president should let the Kremlin get under his skinespecially with regard to nuclear weapons, concludes The Atlantic.
