Name: Trump ramps up rhetoric around U.S. nuclear weapons testing
Uploaded: 2025-10-31T14:57:34.222Z
Duration: 1 min 50 s
Description: U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would restart nuclear weapons testing. The move elicited shock and confusion, coming right before his meeting with his Chinese counterpart on October 29 -- and right after their Russian Counterpart had revealed two new nuclear-powered weapons earlier in the week.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would restart nuclear weapons testing. The move elicited shock and confusion, coming right before his meeting with his Chinese counterpart on October 29 -- and right after their Russian Counterpart had revealed two new nuclear-powered weapons earlier in the week.

Washington

Donald Trump posted on social media that he had instructed the U.S. Department of War to begin testing nuclear weapons, just before a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He later clarified that the U.S. halted nuclear testing in 1992, but suggested renewed testing was appropriate given other countries' activities.

The announcement appears to be a response to Russia's unveiling of new nuclear-powered weapons, although only North Korea has conducted explosive nuclear tests in the 21st century. Experts caution that resuming U.S. nuclear testing would be difficult, costly, and could prompt similar actions from Russia and China, with the Kremlin warning of consequences if the U.S. proceeds.

Trump ramps up rhetoric around U.S. nuclear weapons testing

Just before the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Donald Trump posted a message on Truth Social that shocked the world. I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons. Echoes of the Cold War reverberated. This is archival footage of explosive nuclear tests. The last conducted by the U.S. was in 1992. On the plane back from China, Donald Trump clarified his post. We don't do testing. We've halted it many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also. However, only North Korea has conducted nuclear explosive tests in the 21st century. Donald Trump's announcement seems to be a direct reaction to Moscow's unveiling of two new additions to the Russian arsenal. The Berevstinik missile and the Poseidon. The unmanned underwater drone. While both of them are nuclear-powered, they are not specifically nuclear warheads. It would seem that Trump is seeking to accelerate testing of similar weapons. But returning to nuclear testing would be dangerous and unlikely, according to experts. Some of it would have to be reconstructed from nothing. And that's going to be difficult and expensive to do. And it would likely be two or three years. And it would be contrary to the interests of the United States. Thursday evening, the Kremlin specified that it had not conducted an explosive test with its new weaponry and warned that a resumption of such testing in the United States would have consequences. Even though Trump boasts that the U.S. is the world's leading nuclear power, according to researchers, Russia has the most warheads. Experts warn that if the U.S. does restart explosive nuclear weapons tests, China and Russia may follow suit.

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