President Donald Trump’s recent declaration that the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing has sent shockwaves through Washington and the world, reigniting debates over global security, public health, and the shadowy legacy of the Cold War. The announcement, made in a series of social media posts and off-the-cuff remarks to reporters, leaves the specifics as murky as ever—but the potential consequences are already generating intense scrutiny and concern.
On Wednesday, October 29, 2025, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he had directed the Pentagon to "immediately begin testing US nuclear weapons on an equal basis to China and Russia." He insisted, "The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years." According to Axios, these claims contained inaccuracies: Russia, in fact, maintains the world’s largest nuclear stockpile, and U.S. modernization efforts remain ongoing, far from complete.
Despite the bluster, the details of what Trump intends remain elusive. When pressed by reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, November 1, the President sidestepped questions about whether the U.S. would return to the traditional underground nuclear tests that defined the Cold War era. “You’ll find out very soon. But we’re going to do some testing, yeah,” he said, as reported by Politico. “Other countries do it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going to do it. I’m not going to say here.”
Trump’s announcement arrived less than an hour before a high-profile meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, adding a layer of geopolitical intrigue. Asked whether the move was related to China, Trump replied, “They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing, and we halted it many years ago, but with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also.”
Yet, as Business Insider points out, only North Korea has detonated a nuclear weapon this century. Russia and China have conducted tests of nuclear-capable missiles, but not explosive nuclear tests. The last U.S. nuclear explosion took place in 1992, after which Congress imposed a moratorium: no underground nuclear tests unless another country did so first. President Clinton signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1997, but the Senate declined to ratify it. As of August 2025, 187 states have signed and 178 have ratified the CTBT, but the U.S. remains a signatory only, leaving Trump legally free to resume testing.
Confusion reigns even within the administration. Vice Adm. Richard Correll, Trump’s own nominee to lead U.S. Strategic Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee he wouldn’t presume the president’s words meant explosive nuclear testing. “I wouldn’t presume that the president’s words meant nuclear testing,” Correll said, clarifying that current U.S. testing involves modeling, simulation, and subcritical experiments—methods that do not produce a nuclear explosion. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth added that the Department of Defense would work with the Department of Energy, which oversees nuclear detonations, but offered no details on what sort of testing would occur or when.
Vice President JD Vance, for his part, told 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.” Still, he and other officials maintained that the U.S. arsenal is safe and reliable, and stopped short of clarifying what the new testing would look like.
For many experts, the rationale for renewed explosive nuclear testing is unconvincing. “I have not seen any technical reason why we need to test,” Frank Rose, a former National Nuclear Security Administration deputy and assistant secretary for arms control, verification, and compliance, told Axios. “If I were advising the president, I would say... you need to fully understand the global ramifications. If there is a technical issue that requires us to test, then that’s one thing. But we need to be careful for the geopolitical reasons as well.”
Indeed, the potential costs are staggering. Each new explosive test could carry a price tag of $140 million, according to Politico. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that U.S. nuclear modernization plans from 2025 to 2034 could total $946 billion, with cost overruns and aging infrastructure complicating matters. The Nevada Test Site—once the epicenter of U.S. nuclear testing—looms large in the public imagination. Historian Michael Green, speaking to local media, warned, “We have seen the dangers, and the risks outweigh the rewards.”
Beyond dollars and cents, the risk of reigniting a global arms race is at the forefront of critics’ minds. Lawmakers from Nevada, which hosted hundreds of tests from 1945 to 1992, have condemned Trump’s plan as a public health hazard and a geopolitical provocation. “It could lead to World War III,” one lawmaker told Politico. The Kremlin, meanwhile, denied resuming nuclear testing but hinted it would do so if the U.S. did. China, too, has urged the U.S. to honor the test ban and safeguard global stability.
Analysts warn that such a move could alienate U.S. allies, undermine decades of nuclear restraint, and prompt other nations to follow suit. “It seems like they are just making this up as they go along,” arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis observed on X (formerly Twitter), reflecting the widespread uncertainty.
The U.S. conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992, most in Nevada. Above-ground detonations in the 1950s escalated tensions with the Soviet Union and sickened thousands across the American West. A series of treaties—the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the 1974 Threshold Test Ban Treaty, and the CTBT—gradually constrained testing, driven by environmental concerns and Cold War fatigue.
Today, nine countries possess roughly 12,240 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Moscow and Washington control about 90% of them, with Beijing’s arsenal growing but still far from parity. The ongoing overhaul of U.S. nuclear armaments—predating Trump—faces its own hurdles, from cost overruns to deteriorating infrastructure at National Nuclear Security Administration sites.
For now, the world waits for clarity. Trump, ever the showman, has promised details “very soon.” Until then, the debate over nuclear testing—its necessity, its risks, and its place in the modern world—remains as charged as ever.