A ghost of the Cold War is stirring among the world’s superpowers. Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims about testing a nuclear-powered torpedo and a new cruise missile, President Donald Trump responded on his Truth Social platform: “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.”
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Nuclear watchdogs worldwide are puzzled by Trump’s announcement, noting that the U.S. has not conducted an explosive nuclear weapons test in decades. According to experts, several claims in the former President’s post are factually incorrect:
- <strong>Nuclear Stockpile:</strong> Trump’s assertion that the United States has the most nuclear weapons is false. Experts confirm that Russia possesses the largest overall nuclear arsenal.
- <strong>Current Testing:</strong> The claim that other countries are currently carrying out explosive nuclear tests is inaccurate. Russia’s recent actions were tests of new missile and torpedo delivery platforms, not “controlled explosions of nuclear devices,” which is the strict definition of a nuclear test.
- <strong>Who Tests Nukes?:</strong> Trump incorrectly directed the Department of War (an outdated term for the Department of Defense) to begin testing. In reality, the Department of Energy is responsible for nuclear weapons tests.
Navy Vice Adm. Richard Correll, Trump’s own nominee to head the U.S. Strategic Command, seemed to distance himself from the claim, stating, “Neither China nor Russia has conducted a nuclear explosive test.”
Deepening the Arms Race
The complications of resuming explosive nuclear testing are vast and potentially destabilizing:
- <strong>Decades of Restraint:</strong> Almost every nuclear-capable country, including the U.S. (last test in 1992), Russia (1990), and China (1996), has voluntarily agreed to avoid such tests for decades. North Korea is the only nation to have conducted nuclear blasts this century.
- <strong>A Gift to Rivals:</strong> Analysts warn that restarting U.S. testing could grant a license for other countries to follow suit, potentially leading to a new global arms race. Harvard expert Matthew Bunn stated, “The country that would benefit the most would be China.”
- <strong>Technical and Strategic Issues:</strong> Federal studies indicate that safely staging a test would require several years of preparation and may yield little useful information, as the U.S. already uses sophisticated simulations and component testing to certify its arsenal.
- <strong>Mixed Signals:</strong> Critics, like former Democratic congressman John Tierney, fear the former President’s shifting rhetoric is dangerous. “One day he wants everyone to get rid of their nukes,” Tierney says. “The next day he wants to start testing? It’s dangerous.”
For now, neither the Defense Department nor the White House has offered a full explanation of the plan, leaving experts anxious over the prospect of injecting instability into an already tense international environment.
