U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to immediately resume nuclear weapons testing, framing the directive as a response to comparable programs by Russia and China and pledging to test “on an equal basis” with other nuclear powers.
The announcement was made via a post on his Truth Social account shortly before he landed in Busan, South Korea, for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the message, Trump wrote: “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
It remains unclear whether Trump’s order refers to explosive nuclear tests, flight tests of nuclear delivery systems, or subcritical experiments that do not yield a nuclear explosion. The United States has maintained a de facto moratorium on nuclear explosive testing since 1992.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump emphasized that other countries conducting tests justified the U.S. move and said that test sites would be announced later. He also asserted that the U.S. maintains the largest nuclear arsenal and predicted China could catch up over the next five years.
The decision overturns decades of U.S. nuclear policy and raises immediate questions about compliance with arms control norms, global nonproliferation treaties, and the reaction from Washington’s allies and adversaries.
International observers have yet to confirm any U.S. nuclear test resumption, and senior administration officials have declined to comment on the modalities or timeline of the testing. The shift underscores growing strategic competition in a time of intensifying technological rivalry among nuclear states.
