President Donald Trump has instructed US military leaders to resume nuclear weapons testing, saying the move is needed to keep pace with other countries such as Russia and China. He announced the decision on social media just before a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Trump reiterated that the United States has the largest nuclear stockpile, with Russia second and China a more distant third, and noted that the US has not conducted nuclear explosive tests since 1992. He acknowledged the tremendous destructive power of nuclear arms but said he felt he had no choice but to update and renovate the arsenal during his first term. He warned that China could close the gap within about five years and said the testing process will begin immediately, without providing operational details.
The move represents an apparent reversal of longstanding US policy. The last US nuclear test took place on 23 September 1992, before President George H. W. Bush declared a moratorium as the Cold War ended. Trump made his announcement while en route to meet Xi, and later on Air Force One said test sites would be decided later, arguing it was appropriate for the US to match other countries that are testing.
The announcement follows recent Russian demonstrations of new strategic systems. Over a recent weekend, Russia said it had successfully tested two new weapons types capable of carrying nuclear warheads, including a missile said to evade defense systems and an autonomous underwater vehicle known as Poseidon. Those demonstrations did not involve nuclear detonations.
Analysts say the global nuclear landscape is shifting. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates China has roughly doubled its nuclear arsenal in the past five years and could exceed 1,000 warheads by 2030. The Arms Control Association reports the US stockpile at about 5,225 warheads and Russia at around 5,580. The announcement also comes with roughly 100 days to go before the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the last remaining US-Russia arms control pact, is due to expire in February 2026; New START limits each side to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads.
Historical context: the United States began nuclear testing with the Trinity detonation in July 1945 and remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons in war, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The 1992 test, code-named Divider, was conducted underground at the Nevada Test Site, the 1,054th US nuclear test according to Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Nevada Test Site, about 65 miles north of Las Vegas, is still government-operated and could be authorized again for testing, according to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.
