Thursday, October 30, 2025
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced on Thursday that he had ordered the Department of Defense to resume nuclear weapons testing to match programs in w:Russia and w:China. The directive followed a Russian claim of successfully testing a nuclear-capable underwater drone.
Trump made the announcement via a post on his Truth Social platform minutes before beginning a bilateral summit with Chinese President w:Xi Jinping in w:Seoul, South Korea their first face-to-face meeting since Trump’s inauguration for a second non-consecutive term in January 2025.
“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, naming Russia and China specifically. He stated that the United States possesses more nuclear weapons than any other nation and credited his administration with completing “a complete update and renovation of existing weapons.”
Trump added that “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years.” He provided no further details on the scope, timeline, or location of the planned tests, saying only that “the process will begin immediately.”
The announcement came one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on October 29 that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable underwater drone, identified by Russian officials as the Poseidon system. Putin described the test as proceeding “in defiance of Washington’s warnings,” according to state media.
A senior Russian general separately confirmed that Moscow had also tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, though no independent verification of either claim was immediately available.
The U.S. has not conducted a full nuclear explosive test since 1992, relying instead on subcritical experiments and computer simulations under the w:Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty framework, which Washington signed but never ratified. Trump’s order, if implemented, would mark the first U.S. nuclear detonation in over three decades.
White House officials declined to comment on whether the directive violates existing moratoriums or international agreements. The Pentagon referred inquiries to the president’s statement.
Trump and Xi met for over two hours in Seoul amid escalating tensions over trade, Taiwan, and regional security. No joint statement on nuclear issues was released following the summit.
