Trump Orders Nuclear Testing

BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — President Donald Trump appeared to suggest the U.S. will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China.

The Kremlin pointed out that a global ban on nuclear tests has remained in place, but warned that if any country resumes nuclear testing, Russia would follow suit.

There was no indication the U.S. would start detonating warheads, but Trump offered few details about what seemed to be a significant shift in U.S. policy.

He made the announcement on social media minutes before he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea to discuss trade. He offered little clarity when he spoke to reporters later aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington.

The U.S. military already regularly tests its missiles that are capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, but it has not detonated the weapons since 1992. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the U.S. signed but did not ratify, has been observed since its adoption by all countries possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea being the only exception.

Trump suggested, however, that changes were necessary because other countries were testing weapons. It was unclear what he was referring to, but it evoked Cold War-era escalations.

Russia’s secret “Poseidon” drone can trigger radioactive tsunamis and travel endlessly under the sea. Is it a new age of deterrence—or the start of a nuclear nightmare?

As of now, there are no more US aircraft carriers in Asia

Only 3 active US Aircraft carriers left. All others are in dock.

One aircraft carrier was burnt out in the Mediterranean (Ford) and could not defend Israel.

Replaced by USS Bush.

One is falling apart physically and mentally outside Iran (Lincoln) and so the third and last active carrier (Washington) has to come.

In total, two carriers had to give up fighting Iran.

No carrier anymore in all of Asia!

Kremlin warns that Russia will respond in kind if nuclear tests are resumed

“Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” he said in a post on his Truth Social site. “That process will begin immediately.”

Asked about Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed an earlier warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said Moscow would resume nuclear tests if others do so first.

“If someone abandons the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly,” Peskov said in a call with reporters.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions seeking more details.

When Trump spoke to reporters later, he appeared to be conflating the testing of missiles that deliver a nuclear warhead with the testing of the warheads.

Other countries, he said, “seem to all be nuclear testing,” but when it comes to the U.S., “We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing.”

“I see them testing and I say, well, if they’re going to test, I guess we have to test,” Trump said as he continued speaking to reporters.

Trump was asked where the tests would occur and he said, “It’ll be announced. We have test sites.”

Pentagon officials didn’t immediately respond to questions about the announcement from Trump on the nuclear missile tests.

Vice Admiral Richard Correll, Trump’s nominee to lead the military command in charge of the nation’s nuclear arsenal, was pressed by U.S. senators at his confirmation hearing Thursday to try to interpret the president’s comments.

“I wouldn’t presume that the president’s words meant nuclear testing,” Correll said.

“Well, that’s what he said,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said.

Correll pointed out that neither China nor Russia has conducted a nuclear explosive test, but then said, “I’m not reading anything into it or reading anything out of it.”

Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine later questioned whether Trump might have meant the testing of the weapons delivery systems, such as missiles, not the weapons themselves.

Russia tests of new nuclear-powered weapons

Putin this week announced that Russia tested a new atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone and a new nuclear-powered cruise missile. Putin did not announce any tests of Russia’s nuclear weapons, however, which last occurred in 1990.

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, emphasized that Russia’s recent tests of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile and the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone had nothing to do with the global ban on testing nuclear warheads.

“Regarding the tests of the Burevestnik and the Poseidon, we hope that President Trump was correctly informed about it,” Peskov said. “There is no way it can be interpreted as nuclear testing.”

Trump did not specifically mention the Russian tests in his post, but alluded to the nuclear stockpiles controlled by both Xi and Putin, saying, “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”

Putin in 2023 signed a bill revoking Russia’s ratification of a global nuclear test ban, which Moscow said was needed to put Russia on par with the U.S. The global test ban was signed by President Bill Clinton but never ratified by the Senate.

Earlier this year, Trump signaled he wanted to push his Russian and Chinese counterparts in the other direction, saying he wanted to resume nuclear arms control talks with both countries.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson called on the U.S. to refrain from carrying out nuclear tests.

“China hopes the U.S. will earnestly fulfill its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and honor its commitment to suspend nuclear testing,” Guo Jiakun said at a briefing in Beijing.

Despite his announcement that sounded like an escalation, Trump told reporters that he would like to see a “denuclearization” and “de-escalation.”

“We are actually talking to Russia about that,” Trump said, though he did not elaborate.

Arms control advocates worried

Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, quickly criticized the president’s announcement and said Trump was “misinformed and out of touch.”

Kimball, in social media posts, said the U.S. has no reason to resume nuclear explosive testing and it would take at least 36 months to resume testing at the former test site in Nevada, where the last detonations occurred underground.

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Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

“I don’t have insight into the president’s intent,” Correll said. “I agree that that could be an interpretation.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday assailed Trump’s announcement, saying in a statement that “current nuclear risks are already alarmingly high.”

“We must never forget the disastrous legacy of over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests carried out over the last 80 years,” Guterres said, according to his deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haqq.

What we know about Russia’s first long-range test of the nuclear-powered BUREVESTNIK cruise missile - 04/11/2025 | Francesca Genovese

On 26 October, President Vladimir Putin visited a joint command post, where he attended a meeting with Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

During the session, Gerasimov stated that on 21 October 2025, Russia had successfully conducted a test of the 9M730 BUREVESTNIK missile — designated by NATO as SSC-X-9 SKYFALL.

The system is a nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable cruise missile.

The launch reportedly took place from Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in northern Russia within the Arctic Ocean.

Novaya Zemlya was a key Soviet nuclear testing site during the Cold War — notably, the location of the Tsar Bomba test in 1961, the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated.

According to Gerasimov, the missile flew for around 15 hours, covering a distance of 14,000 km.

However, the General stressed that this might not represent the system’s maximum range.

If confirmed, this would mark the first test of the BUREVESTNIK over such distance and duration.

Gerasimov added that the missile’s technical features allow for precise engagement of highly protected targets at any range, and that the test included vertical and horizontal maneuvers designed to evade air and missile defense systems.

Following the test, the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) reported no increase in radiation levels detected from Russia.

However, a nuclear-powered ramjet cruise missile like the BUREVESTNIK would theoretically produce detectable emissions.

It is worth recalling that, shortly after the missile’s existence was first announced in 2018, the Norwegian environmental group Bellona suggested that an Arctic radiation spike recorded that same winter might have been caused by emissions from the missile’s air-cooled reactor core.

From a technical standpoint, such a weapon would use rocket boosters, likely liquid-fueled, to reach the speed required for ramjet operation.

In the case of the SLAM (Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile) — a similar US Air Force project developed in the 1960s under Project PLUTO — the nuclear ramjet lacked any shielding to contain radiation.

This design choice stemmed from the need to keep the propulsion unit compact enough to fit inside the missile.

Moreover, the SLAM’s exhaust trail contained unburned fissile material, which would have contaminated all areas flown over, regardless of whether they were enemy or friendly territory.

The project was abandoned in 1964, as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were deemed more effective and reliable.

If the BUREVESTNIK indeed employs nuclear propulsion, as claimed by Russian authorities, the risk of accidents is tangible.

Previous tests have been problematic, with the most serious incident occurring in 2019, when an explosion aboard a barge in the White Sea near Nenoksa killed 5 Rosatom scientists.

The blast was attributed to the reactor of a recovered BUREVESTNIK, likely a remnant of earlier tests conducted in 2017, and it caused a radiation spike in the Russian city of Severodvinsk.

Although details remain opaque, it is clear that using nuclear propulsion in any atmospheric vehicle poses serious challenges.

“BUREVESTNIK tests carry a risk of accidents and localized radioactive emissions,” stated the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) in a report published last year.

This risk is particularly high during unarmed test flights, when the missile must inevitably crash to the ground or into the sea, raising questions about how such tests are actually conducted.

A nuclear-powered missile offers virtually unlimited range, unconstrained by conventional fuel.

It can follow unpredictable trajectories and be difficult to intercept — though still easier to shoot down than ballistic missiles.

Once launched, its flight profile could exploit gaps in defense and early-warning systems.

This is why space-based surveillance architectures, including those capable of detecting low-flying aerial threats, are in growing demand.

The US Congress has recently included $2.2 billion in additional funding for spaceborne Air Moving Target Indicator (AMTI) capabilities in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, amid a general reduction in traditional airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) capacity.

The US Space Force is currently assessing realistic options for developing future satellites capable of continuously tracking aerial threats from orbit.

The Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) — aimed at defining the Space Force’s strategy for space-based AMTI capabilities — is expected to be completed by autumn 2025.

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