Trump directs Pentagon to restart nuclear weapons testing

US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has instructed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with China and Russia.

The decision followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim a day earlier that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, despite repeated warnings from Washington.

“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote in a social media post that mentioned both Russia and China.

The president also boasted that the United States “has more nuclear weapons than any other country,” crediting his administration with “a complete update and renovation of existing weapons.” He added, “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years.”

According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), nine nations currently possess nuclear arsenals: the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, 'Israel', and North Korea. ICAN estimates that out of roughly 12,331 warheads worldwide, Russia holds about 5,500 while the US maintains 5,044.

Trump did not specify what kind of testing would resume, only saying that the process would “begin immediately.”

Putin, meanwhile, touted the capabilities of his new underwater drone, dubbed Poseidon, which he described as impossible to intercept and capable of traveling vast distances beneath the ocean’s surface. Speaking from a military hospital treating Russian troops wounded in Ukraine, the Russian leader said the weapon could reach “any continent in the world.”

The Russian test came days after Moscow launched a new cruise missile, prompting Trump to urge Putin to “end the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles.”

A planned meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest last week was canceled amid rising tensions.

The United States conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992, the last being a 20-kiloton underground detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site. A moratorium on nuclear testing was imposed that same year by President George H.W. Bush and has remained in place ever since, with research limited to non-nuclear experiments and computer simulations.