Trump on the of US nuclear tests: 'Thank you very much everybody'

Trump did not respond to questions about the start of US nuclear weapons testing.

At the beginning of his meeting with Xi Jinping, one of the journalists asked the US president about the reason for ordering the immediate start of nuclear weapons tests.

"Thank you very much everybody," Trump replied.

Earlier, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had instructed the Pentagon to immediately begin testing America’s nuclear weapons.

He emphasized that the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country.

He added that Russia ranks second in nuclear capability, and China comes third by a wide margin, but Beijing will catch up with Moscow within five years.

Therefore, he said, he had ordered the start of US nuclear weapons testing.

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

At the end of August, Donald Trump said that the US was negotiating with Russia to limit the number of nuclear weapons, adding that he wanted China to join the dialogue as well.

In September, Vladimir Putin proposed to voluntarily adhere to the limits restricting the size of the two largest nuclear arsenals, provided the US did the same.

In early October, Trump spoke favorably of Putin’s idea to limit the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons.

The Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also known as New START, was signed by Russia and the United States in 2010.

Under the treaty’s provisions, seven years after it enters into force and thereafter, the total number of strategic arms possessed by each party must not exceed:

• 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers;

• 1,550 warheads deployed on those delivery systems;

• 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers for ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers.

The treaty is set to expire in February 2026.