U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has directed the Pentagon to restart nuclear weapons testing “on a level with China and Russia,” just minutes before opening a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The declaration marks a dramatic shift in U.S. nuclear policy and comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, defying Washington’s earlier warnings.
“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 in a social media post referencing Russia and China.
He boasted that the United States possesses more nuclear weapons than any other country, crediting his administration for overseeing “a complete update and renovation” of America’s nuclear arsenal. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third but will be even within five years,” he added.
According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), nine countries currently possess nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. Of the world’s estimated 12,331 warheads, Russia holds about 5,580, while the U.S. has roughly 5,044.
Trump provided no details on the scope or timeline of the renewed tests but said the process would “begin immediately.”
Putin, in televised remarks on Wednesday from a Russian military hospital, said the newly tested underwater drone—dubbed “Poseidon”—is nuclear-capable and “impossible to intercept.” He claimed it can travel faster than submarines, dive deeper, and strike any continent.
The Kremlin’s announcement followed a separate test of a nuclear cruise missile on Sunday. In response, Trump criticized Putin, saying he should “end the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles.”
The last U.S. nuclear test took place in September 1992 at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site. A moratorium imposed the following month by then-President George H.W. Bush halted all further explosive testing, with subsequent administrations relying on computer simulations and subcritical experiments instead.
Trump’s decision comes as he meets Xi in South Korea—their first encounter since the Republican president began his second term—amid escalating global tensions and renewed concerns over a nuclear arms race.
