In a recent statement by the current President of the United States, Donald Trump, it appears that he has suggested the United States may resume testing nuclear weapons after three decades of no nuclear detonations. He said that it would be at an equal level to that of Russia and China.
In a post on Donald Trump’s Truth Social Account, he said, “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” he continues, “That process will begin immediately.”
This statement came as a bit of a shock due to there currently being a ban on the testing of nuclear weapons, the formal reason why there has been no testing done by the United States and other major countries.
There has been weapons testing of missiles capable of carrying a nuclear payload, but that has already been occurring in the United States. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the United States has signed alongside all other countries with nuclear ordnance, other than North Korea, is still in effect. This leads many to question if he means to break with the agreement and begin testing nuclear detonations once again.
Foreign powers have made their stance clear that if the United States begins testing nuclear weapons with detonations, they will do the same.
Guo Jiakun, a Chinese diplomat, said the following at a briefing in Beijing, “China hopes the U.S. will earnestly fulfill its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and honor its commitment to suspend nuclear testing,”.
Hopefully, this is just a misunderstanding, and the nuclear arms race will not heat up like it did back during the Cold War era.
