President Donald Trump has called for US military leaders to resume testing of American nuclear weapons, to keep pace with other countries such as Russia and China.
“Due to the testing programs of other countries, I have instructed the War Department to begin testing our nuclear weapons in a similar manner,” he wrote on social media shortly before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Trump said the US has more nuclear weapons than any other country, with Russia in second place and China a “distant third.” The United States has not conducted nuclear weapons tests since 1992, the report said. The BBC.
This announcement comes just days after Trump criticized Russia for testing a nuclear-powered missile, which is reported to have unlimited range.
Trump’s tweet on Wednesday evening acknowledges the “very destructive” power of nuclear weapons, but emphasizes that he had “no other choice” but to update and renew the US arsenal during his first term.
He also said that China’s nuclear program “will be even bigger within 5 years.”
Trump did not provide details on how the tests would be conducted, but wrote that “the process will begin immediately.”
This is a clear reversal of long-standing US policy. The last American nuclear weapons test was in 1992, before former Republican President George HW Bush declared a moratorium after the end of the Cold War.
