U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States will immediately resume testing its nuclear arsenal.
According to Agence France-Presse, Trump stated in a post on his Truth Social platform: “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately”.
This follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement Wednesday that Moscow successfully tested an underwater drone capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Trump emphasized that the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country, pointing out to his own efforts to carry out complete update and renovation of existing weapons.
“Russia ranks second, and China ranks third by a wide margin, but they will be equal within five years”, Trump added.
According to the International Campaign to Abolish nuclear weapons (ICAN), nine countries possess nuclear weapons: Russia, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, North Korea, and Israel.
Out of 12,331 nuclear warheads worldwide, ICAN reports that Russia has 5,500, while the United States possesses 5,044.
In October 1992, U.S. President George H. W. Bush imposed a moratorium on nuclear testing, which continued through successive administrations.
