U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered the U.S. military to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons, breaking a 33-year-old unilateral moratorium on atomic detonations, citing the need to “keep pace” with weapons programs in Russia and China.
The directive was issued via a post on social media by the President, who instructed the Department of War to start testing the nation’s nuclear arsenal on an “equal basis.” The announcement came as Mr. Trump was aboard Marine One, en route to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea—the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since 2019.
The order marks an apparent and dramatic reversal of a long-standing U.S. policy that dates back to the end of the Cold War. The last U.S. nuclear weapons test was conducted in 1992, before former Republican President George H.W. Bush issued a moratorium.
Speaking after his meeting with President Xi, Mr. Trump reiterated that matching other countries in testing was “appropriate,” but offered no immediate details on where the tests would be held, only stating that the “process will begin immediately.” He later suggested that the test sites would be determined at a later date.
Citing Rivalry and Arsenal Renovation
The President’s statement acknowledged the “tremendous destructive power” of nuclear weapons but argued he had “no choice” but to update and renovate the U.S. arsenal. He also claimed that while the U.S. currently possesses more nuclear weapons than any other country, China’s nuclear program “will be even within 5 years.”
The U.S. decision follows a flurry of activity by its geopolitical rivals. Just days earlier, Mr. Trump had denounced Russia for its own strategic weapons developments. Over the weekend, Moscow announced it had successfully tested two new weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads, including a missile designed to penetrate U.S. defense systems and the Poseidon underwater drone, capable of hitting the American West Coast.
(It should be noted that the Russian announcements did not involve the detonation of a nuclear device).
The U.S. policy reversal comes around 100 days before the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in February 2026—the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between the U.S. and Russia, which limits each country to 1,550 warheads on deployed missiles.
Global Stockpiles and Historical Site
The U.S. currently maintains an estimated nuclear stockpile of around 5,225 warheads, compared to Russia’s approximate 5,580, according to the Arms Control Association. Meanwhile, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reports that China has roughly doubled its nuclear arsenal over the past five years and is expected to exceed 1,000 weapons by 2030.
The last American nuclear detonation, code-named Divider, occurred on September 23, 1992, at an underground facility in the western state of Nevada. According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, this was the 1,054th nuclear weapons test conducted by the U.S.
The Nevada Test Site, 65 miles north of Las Vegas, remains operational. The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, confirmed that the site “could be authorized again for nuclear weapons testing” if deemed necessary by the government
