Trump orders start of US nuclear weapons testing

The US president emphasized that the United States possesses 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," Trump said.

The president added that because of the enormous destructive power of nuclear weapons, "I hated to do it," but said he had no choice.

According to Trump, Russia ranks second in terms of nuclear capability, while China is third, trailing far behind, though Beijing will match Moscow within five years. For that reason, he said he had ordered the start of US nuclear weapons testing.

"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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" the president concluded.

Earlier, at the end of August, Donald Trump stated that the United States was negotiating with Russia to limit the number of nuclear weapons and that China should be included in the dialogue.

In September, Vladimir Putin proposed voluntarily adhering to limits that cap the size of the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals, provided that the United States did the same.

Later, Trump responded positively to Putin’s proposal to restrict the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons.