Donald Trump said the US will resume nuclear testing “on equal terms” with other countries

In the midst of a major diplomatic trip to Asia, President Trump took to social media to threaten to resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than 30 years. “In connection with the testing programs of other countries, I have directed the Department of Defense to begin testing our nuclear weapons on equal terms,” Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social , adding that the process would begin immediately.

According to The New York Times , for years, American nuclear engineers have said that further nuclear testing is unnecessary because they can simulate the tests on computers rather than risk explosions that were once carried out in the Pacific Ocean or underground in Nevada. The last time the United States conducted nuclear tests was in September 1992. But in recent years, as the United States has begun modernizing its aging arsenal, there have been calls to resume testing.

It is possible that Trump has decided to respond to threats from Vladimir Putin, who in the past few days said that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile, the Burevestnik, as well as a nuclear torpedo called the Poseidon. The torpedo is designed to travel under the Pacific Ocean from eastern Russia to hit the west coast of the United States.

If Trump goes ahead with a nuclear weapons test, it will likely trigger similar tests by other states that have nuclear weapons, writes NYT . US allies include Britain, France and Israel, which has an undeclared arsenal of nearly 100 weapons. India, Pakistan and North Korea also have growing stockpiles of nuclear weapons.