Donald Trump defends the resumption of nuclear weapons testing

(Washington) Donald Trump defended his decision to resume nuclear weapons testing on Thursday, pointing to the arms race of the United States’ great rivals, Russia and China.

“If they’re doing tests, I guess we have to do them,” he said aboard Air Force One, the presidential plane. “We have sites” to do this, he assured, without specifying the dates and locations of these tests.

The US president’s earlier announcement seemed like a statement of strength just before his meeting in South Korea with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. It is part of Donald Trump’s toughening vis-à-vis the Kremlin, while his efforts to end the war in Ukraine are stalling.

In a message on his Truth Social network, he justified his decision by the “testing programs” of other countries, assuring that the United States would “immediately” begin “testing (their) nuclear weapons”.

He also claimed the supremacy of the United States, which “possesses more nuclear weapons than any other country”.

An assertion denied by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which is a reference, and according to which Russia has 4,309 nuclear warheads deployed or stored compared to 3,700 for the United States and 600 for the Chinese. These figures do not take into account warheads awaiting dismantling or destruction.

After Donald Trump’s announcement, his vice-president JD Vance also justified his decision, saying that testing the American nuclear arsenal was necessary “to ensure that it was in working order and working well.”

“To be clear, we know it works well, but you have to ensure that over time,” he added to reporters at the White House.

Donald Trump did not specify the nature of the tests, but Washington is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the explosion of warheads would constitute a flagrant violation.

“Irresponsible”

Donald Trump’s decision responds to recent maneuvers by Russia. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the successful final test of the Bourevestnik cruise missile, which he said had “unlimited range”.

And on Wednesday, he reported the test of a Poseidon underwater drone, compatible with atomic charges.

After Donald Trump’s statements, Moscow clarified that these were tests of weapons capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and not of nuclear bombs themselves.

“We hope President Trump has been informed of this properly. This cannot be considered a nuclear test,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Shortly before, Beijing had expressed the wish that Washington “seriously” respect the CTBT obligations and take “concrete measures to preserve the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation system”.

Another rival of the United States, Iran denounced an “irresponsible” decision. The United States represents “the most dangerous proliferation risk in the world,” declared on X the head of Iranian diplomacy Abbas Araghchi, whose country is suspected by the West and Israel of secretly developing atomic weapons, which he denies.

“Pretty well locked”

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have often displayed a certain closeness, but their relations have cooled considerably, against a backdrop of blocked discussions on the Ukrainian issue.

Last week, the American president postponed a just-announced meeting plan with Vladimir Putin in Budapest, before imposing new sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons.

Nuclear rhetoric has made a comeback in global diplomacy since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

She is often agitated by Moscow. Asked about the risk of a slippage, Donald Trump replied: “I don’t think so. I think it’s locked pretty well.”

Washington and Moscow remain linked in principle by the New Start disarmament treaty, which limits each party to 1,550 deployed strategic offensive warheads and provides for a verification mechanism, interrupted for two years.

The treaty is set to expire in February. Moscow offered to extend it for another year, but without mentioning inspections of the arsenals.