More has come out on President Donald Trump’s plans for nuclear testing, from top officials and from Trump himself, but it’s still unclear exactly what’s coming.
Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that he had instructed the Department of Defense to start the process of “testing our Nuclear Weapons” immediately, identifying it as a response to testing by other countries.
Nuclear experts were confused. Even Trump’s own nominee to lead US Strategic Command, which oversees US nuclear weapons, wasn’t sure what the post meant.
Vice Adm. Richard Correll told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that he “wouldn’t presume that the president’s words meant nuclear testing,” as in testing involving detonating a nuclear warhead. He said he didn’t have any “insight into the president’s intent.”
But he did say that the current testing program, which involves modeling and simulation as well as subcritical testing of nuclear materials, is vigorous and dependable.
In a press gaggle later Thursday, Trump said that the US does not do nuclear testing and stopped many years ago but should do so in response to testing by other countries. Only North Korea is known to have detonated a nuclear weapon this century. His language, however, appeared to speak to the kind of nuclear testing the US has not done since 1992.
“They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing, and we’ve halted it years, many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” he said.
There’s been some suspicion that rivals have violated the “zero-yield” standard. Work has also been spotted at the Lop Nur and Novaya Zemlya nuclear sites in China and Russia, respectively. However, the only known explosive nuclear tests in decades were the North Korean ones at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
Michael Peterson/USAF/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS
In the president’s post, Trump said he’d instructed the US Department of Defense to resume nuclear testing. As nuclear experts have noted, explosive nuclear testing, would actually be overseen by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters on Friday that DoD “would work with the Department of Energy” but did not go into any detail on what type of testing would be pursued, what the timeline was for conducting these tests, and what role DoD would play in them.
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“America will ensure that we have the strongest, most capable nuclear arsenal that we maintain peace through strength,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth’s comments, nuclear weapons and arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis said on X, didn’t provide answers. “It seems like they are just making this up as they go along,” he wrote.
Other administration officials, like Vice President JD Vance, have also chimed in after Trump’s post. On Thursday, Vance said Trump’s post “speaks for itself,” telling reporters, “it’s an important part of American national security to make sure that this nuclear arsenal we have actually functions properly, and that’s part of the testing regime.”
Vance and other administration officials have assured that they trust the arsenal is in a safe and reliable condition, but there’s still not much clarity on the testing plan.
When Trump first posted about nuclear testing on Truth Social, nuclear experts questioned whether Trump was talking about testing with delivery systems like intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers, and ballistic-missile submarines that are capable of carrying and launching nuclear weapons. DoD already does that testing. It’s not uncommon, for instance, to see news about Minuteman III ICBM tests.
Asked about Trump’s plans, the Pentagon referred Business Insider to Hegseth’s comments and said that it had nothing to add at this time. The US Department of Energy didn’t provide comment on Trump’s nuclear testing plan. The White House referred Business Insider to Trump’s press gaggles.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Friday, Trump didn’t specify whether he wants to do above-ground, underground, or some other kind of nuclear testing.
“We’re going to do some testing,” he said. “Other countries do it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going to do it.” There’s been some speculation from nuclear weapons experts that Trump’s testing plan may be a reaction to Russia’s test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile and torpedo.
“I know exactly what we’re doing, where we’re doing it,” the president said, without offering details. During Thursday’s gaggle, he said “it’ll be announced” and noted that the US has test sites. In the past, test sites included the Nevada Test Site in Nevada and the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands.
With Trump’s announcement on renewed testing, many nuclear experts are concerned that the US restarting explosive nuclear testing could prompt other countries to do the same.
