US President Donald Trump announced today that he has ordered the start of nuclear weapons tests.
Ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, Trump justified his decision, claiming that he "had no other choice" after noting that other powers (see Russia) had recently tested weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
"The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country. This was achieved, along with the modernization of existing weapons systems, during my first term (in the White House)," President Trump said in a post on the Truth Social platform, adding that Russia currently has the second largest nuclear arsenal in the world and China the third, but they may increase it to similar levels in the next five years.
"Due to their terrible, destructive power, I HAD to do it but I had no other choice!", he emphasizes.
Trump ordered nuclear weapons tests: 'I had no other choice'
"Due to testing by other countries, I have instructed the Department of War (ed. as the US Department of Defense has been renamed) to begin testing our nuclear weapons on equal terms. This process will begin immediately," Donald Trump stressed.
The last nuclear test by the United States took place on September 23, 1992, at the Nevada Test Site. The test was codenamed “Divider” and was part of a program of underground nuclear explosions that the United States has conducted since 1945 (beginning with “Trinity” in New Mexico). Nuclear tests provide crucial information about the performance of new weapons and whether older systems remain operational.
In 1992, President George W. Bush announced a moratorium on testing, amid growing international pressure for nuclear disarmament after the end of the Cold War. The United States supported the creation of the treaty in 1996, which bans all nuclear explosions. Although it has not ratified it, it is in practice committed to it.
Since 1995, the US has implemented the “Stockpile Stewardship Program”, which allows it to maintain and modernize nuclear weapons without testing, using advanced simulation on supercomputers and laboratory experiments.
In total, the United States conducted 1.032 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992, more than any other country in the world.
