President Donald Trump ordered the US military on Thursday to immediately restart the process for testing nuclear weapons after a halt of 33 years, in an apparent message to rival nuclear powers China and Russia.
Trump made the surprise announcement on Truth Social while aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for a trade-negotiating session in Busan, South Korea.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” Trump posted.
#TRUMP ON TRUTH SOCIALS: “I have instructed the department of war to start testing our #Nuclear #Weapons on a equal basis” pic.twitter.com/WUCGn5rlcv
— StrandenOSINT (@StrandenOSINT) October 30, 2025
“Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
No nuclear power – other than North Korea most recently in 2017 – has carried out explosive nuclear testing in over 25 years.
Post-Soviet Russia has never tested. The Soviet Union last tested in 1990, and China in 1996. Trump’s fellow Republican, President George H.W. Bush, announced a US testing moratorium in 1992 after the last US test in September that year.
Russia – which tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile on October 21, held nuclear readiness drills on October 22 and tested a new nuclear-powered autonomous torpedo on October 28 – said it hoped Trump had been properly informed that Moscow had not tested an actual nuclear weapon itself.
“President Trump mentioned in his statement that other countries are engaged in testing nuclear weapons. Until now, we didn’t know that anyone was testing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
❗️’Russia Will Act Accordingly’ If Trump Breaks Nuclear Testing Moratorium – Kremlin Spox Peskov To RT pic.twitter.com/yI5XhCn5dQ
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) October 30, 2025
Putin, who commands the world’s biggest arsenal of nuclear warheads, has repeatedly said that if any country tests a nuclear weapon then Russia will do so too.
Source: Reuters (edited by Al-Manar)
