United States President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing in response to Russia's recent nuclear tests, citing competition with Moscow and Beijing.
The announcement came hours before Trump’s scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday. Trump posted on his Truth Social account that “The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country. 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 and China are the next big nuclear powers, placing 2nd and 3rd in the list of countries maintaining the highest number of warheads in the world.
Technically, Russia is likely to surpass the US in the near future, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries' testing programmes, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” he added.
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The US had halted its nuclear testing programme in 1992 under a Congress-mandated moratorium. Members of Trump’s cabinet reportedly discussed reversing the moratorium during his first term after the US accused China and Russia of conducting underground low-yield nuclear tests, claims that both Beijing and Moscow deny.
As per recent estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US has 5,177 nuclear warheads, Russia has 5,459, and China is expected to reach 1,500 by 2035.
The US test-fired an unarmed, nuclear-capable Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in February and launched four Trident II missiles from a submarine in September. Russia, in response, test-fired its new nuclear-capable Burevestnik cruise missile, powered by a small nuclear reactor that gives it a virtually unlimited range.
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