Trump Orders Immediate Resumption of Nuclear Testing; International Figures Contradict His Claim on US Arsenal

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States will resume testing its nuclear weapons arsenal "immediately," without providing additional details. This announcement follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement on Wednesday that Moscow successfully tested a nuclear-capable Russian underwater drone, defying Washington's warnings.

Trump's Order to Resume Testing

• The Decision and Platform: Trump wrote on Truth Social that he directed the "Department of War" (Pentagon) to begin testing US nuclear weapons "on an equal basis" due to testing programs conducted by other nations.

• Historical Context of the Halt: The US halted experimental nuclear detonation tests in October 1992, by a decision from former President George H.W. Bush. Since then, successive administrations have relied on non-nuclear tests using advanced simulations. The US conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992.

Contradictory Figures on the Nuclear Arsenal

• Trump's Claim: Trump asserted that the US owns more nuclear weapons than any other nation, praising his own efforts to conduct a "complete modernization and renovation of the existing weapons." He added that Russia is second, and China is third, but they will achieve parity with the US within five years.

• ICAN Data: Figures circulated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) appear to say the opposite, placing Russia in the lead globally in terms of the number of nuclear warheads:

  • Russia: 5,500 nuclear warheads.

  • United States: 5,044 nuclear warheads.

  • Global Total: 12,331 nuclear warheads possessed by 9 nations (Russia, US, China, France, UK, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea).