United States President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, a move he says will put America “on equal footing with China and Russia.”
The announcement, made Thursday on social media, marks a major reversal of more than three decades of U.S. nuclear restraint.
It comes just minutes before Trump’s high-profile meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Seoul, their first encounter since Trump began his second term.
“Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis,” Trump said, directly naming Russia and China.
The president boasted that the United States remains the world’s leading nuclear power, adding that his administration had completed “a total renovation” of existing weapons.
“The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country,” Trump said.
“Russia is second, and China is a distant third but will catch up within five years.”
The decision came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone named Poseidon.
Putin described the system as “unstoppable,” claiming it could reach any continent without interception.
In televised remarks, Putin said the weapon could travel “faster than conventional submarines” and was a vital part of Russia’s new nuclear deterrent.
Trump, who recently canceled a planned summit with Putin in Budapest, condemned Russia’s missile tests, saying the Kremlin should “end the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles.”
Although Trump did not specify the timing or location of the new U.S. tests, he said the process would “begin immediately.”
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) reports that nine nations currently possess nuclear arms, including Russia, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea.
Together, they hold an estimated 12,331 warheads.
Russia controls about 5,580, while the U.S. maintains around 5,044, according to ICAN’s 2024 assessment.
The U.S. last carried out a full-scale nuclear test in September 1992, detonating a 20-kiloton device underground at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.
Then-President George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium a month later a policy maintained by every administration until now.
Trump’s decision is expected to heighten fears of a new global arms race, particularly as the U.S., Russia, and China intensify competition over advanced military technology.
Analysts warn that the move could undermine international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation and destabilize existing arms control treaties.
