US President Donald Trump has justified his move to resume nuclear testing, arguing that Washington cannot remain the only power observing restraint while Russia, China, and North Korea continue their
weapons programs, even as he acknowledged America already has enough arms “to blow up the world 150 times”.
In an interview with CBS’s 90 Minutes, the Republican leader said the US “cannot be the only country that doesn’t carry out tests” even with its vast nuclear arsenal.
Hours before his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump posted on Truth Social, directing the Department of Defence to begin nuclear testing “immediately”.
Defending his stance on CBS, Trump pointed to nuclear activity by China, Russia, and North Korea.
“We have more nuclear weapons than any other country. And I think we should do something about denuclearisation. I discussed that with both President Putin and President Xi. We have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world 150 times. Russia has a lot of nuclear weapons, and China will have a lot,” Trump said.
The president added that he does not want the US to be the only nation refraining from tests.
“You know, you do have to, and the reason I’m saying testing is because Russia announced they were going to do a test. North Korea’s testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We’re the only country that doesn’t test, and I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test,” he said.
Trump’s post came shortly after reports that Russia had tested its “unlimited range” Burevestnik missile.
The president also stated that the US was an “open society” that discussed such matters openly.
“We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are going to report — they don’t have reporters writing about it. We do,” he said.
Trump’s call to resume nuclear testing, three decades after the last US test, has drawn scepticism on Capitol Hill. His nominee to lead the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Vice Admiral Richard Correll, told lawmakers that neither China nor Russia had conducted nuclear explosive tests recently.
“I believe the quote was, ‘start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis.’ Neither China nor Russia has conducted a nuclear explosive test, so I’m not reading anything into it,” Correll said.
