ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump declined to say Friday whether he plans to restart underground nuclear explosion tests. This week’s social media posts This raised concerns that the United States would begin testing nuclear weapons for the first time in 30 years.
Asked whether he intended to resume underground nuclear explosion tests, the president told reporters, “We’ll know soon,” but did not elaborate.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided few details Friday when asked about what kind of nuclear tests the Pentagon would oversee. However, he told reporters that “resuming testing” would “come with a lot of responsibility,” appearing to hint that warhead testing was the goal.
“We’re going to do some testing,” Trump said, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Florida for the weekend. “Other countries are doing it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going to do it,” but then declined to provide further details.
His comments on nuclear testing caused confusion both inside and outside the government. In a short post, the president appeared to hint that the United States would resume testing nuclear warheads “on the same basis” as Russia and China. The last known experiment was in the 1990s. Some of President Trump’s comments appear to be referring to tests of missiles that launch warheads, rather than the warheads themselves. There is no indication that the US will begin detonating warheads.
The U.S. military already regularly tests missiles capable of launching nuclear warheads, but has not detonated one since 1992. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty, which the United States signed but did not ratify, has been observed by all states with nuclear weapons since its adoption, with North Korea being the only exception.
The Department of Defense did not respond to questions. The Department of Energy, which oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile, declined to comment Friday.
Hegseth made the remarks while attending a meeting of Malaysia’s defense ministers. Association of Southeast Asian Nationsthe Pentagon said it would work with the Department of Energy.
“The president was clear: We need to have a reliable nuclear deterrent,” he said. “That’s the baseline of our deterrence,” he said. “Resuming nuclear testing is a very responsible, very responsible way to go about it. And I think it makes nuclear conflict less likely.”
He added after a moment: “That’s the right order. We will withdraw immediately.”
President Trump’s post about the nuclear test came in the wake of Russia’s announcement that it conducted a nuclear test this week. tested new nuclear power Nuclear-capable underwater drone and new Nuclear cruise missile.
Russia responded to Trump’s post by stressing that it has not tested a nuclear weapon and that it complies with the global ban on nuclear testing. But the Kremlin warned that if the U.S. resumed weapons tests, Russia would do the same, reigniting Cold War tensions.
Lt. Gen. Richard Correll, who was nominated by President Trump to lead the military in charge of the nation’s nuclear arsenal, struggled to interpret the president’s comments as he testified before senators during a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday, saying, “I haven’t read anything, I haven’t read anything.”
___
Price reported from Washington.
