In a move that has sent shockwaves through the international community, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has instructed the Department of Defense to immediately resume nuclear weapons testing, ending a three-decade pause and threatening to upend the global disarmament framework that has helped restrain nuclear competition for decades.
The decision, revealed in a post on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, marks a major policy reversal that experts warn could destabilize global security and encourage Russia, China, and other nuclear powers to conduct their own tests.
“Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but I had no choice!” Trump wrote. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years.”
According to the Arms Control Association, Russia currently holds about 5,580 nuclear warheads, compared to 5,225 for the United States — together accounting for nearly 90 per cent of the world’s nuclear arsenal.
Global concern over renewed testing
Trump said the United States must conduct testing “on an equal basis” with other powers, likely referring to Russia’s recent test of its Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo, a weapon capable of triggering radioactive ocean swells. Analysts say the Poseidon’s design breaks long-standing deterrence norms and could devastate entire coastal regions.
The announcement came just one day after Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit, where the two leaders reached a trade deal to reduce U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Analysts now fear that rekindling nuclear competition could undermine the fragile diplomatic progress between Washington and Beijing.
“The president’s combative words alone could reinforce wariness in Beijing about U.S. nuclear intentions,” wrote The New York Times, noting that trust between the two superpowers “has eroded sharply.”
Disarmament treaty under strain
The move also places new pressure on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) — one of the world’s most widely supported disarmament accords, signed by 187 nations. Although the United States has never ratified the treaty, it has observed a voluntary moratorium since 1992, when Congress halted explosive tests following the end of the Cold War.
By ordering renewed testing, Trump risks violating the treaty’s spirit and dismantling decades of nuclear restraint. The U.S. and Russia had previously agreed to limit their deployed warheads to 1,550 each, but China’s rapid expansion of its arsenal has already strained that balance, creating a three-way strategic rivalry.
Experts warn of a new nuclear era
Arms control specialists say the move could trigger a new global arms race.
“If the United States resumes full-yield nuclear testing, it would effectively give China and Russia carte blanche to do the same,” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The nonproliferation regime is under tremendous stress — the major powers can’t even agree on what keeps it alive.”
According to Business Insider, some of Trump’s advisors have been urging him to modernize America’s nuclear arsenal and demonstrate strength through new testing programs. Critics, however, warn that the symbolic cost far outweighs any scientific gain, and that renewed testing could legitimize global rearmament at a time of heightened geopolitical tension.
With the U.S. set to break its 33-year moratorium, analysts say the world may be entering a new and perilous phase of nuclear competition — one defined less by deterrence and diplomacy, and more by distrust and dangerous escalation.