On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump announced that he has directed the Department of Defense to commence immediate testing of U.S. nuclear weapons, aiming to match the capabilities of China and Russia.

“The United States leads the world with the most nuclear weapons,” Trump stated. “This was achieved through a comprehensive update and renovation of our arsenal during my first term. Despite the immense destructive power, I was reluctant to proceed, but felt it was necessary. Russia follows in second place, with China trailing, though they are expected to catch up within five years.”

The Hill has reached out to the Pentagon for their response to this directive.

Trump’s statement on TruthSocial emerged shortly before his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, marking their first face-to-face encounter since 2019.

During the meeting in South Korea, Trump did not respond to a reporter’s question regarding his announcement, as the media was escorted from the room while he met with President Xi and the Chinese delegation.

The U.S. halted the explosive testing of nuclear arms in 1992.  

Former Trump’s national security advisor, Robert C. O’Brien, encouraged Trump, a presidential candidate, in June last year to test nuclear weapons if he wins the 2024 White House election.  

“Washington must test new nuclear weapons for reliability and safety in the real world for the first time since 1992—not just by using computer models,” O’Brien wrote in an article for the Foreign Affairs magazine, which was published in June last year. “If China and Russia continue to refuse to engage in good-faith arms control talks, the United States should also resume production of uranium-235 and plutonium-239, the primary fissile isotopes of nuclear weapons.”  

Russia claimed it tested its new nuclear-capable cruise missile, known as the Burevestnik, last week, which purportedly flew 8,700 miles.

The test was met with international condemnation, including from Trump, who called it “inappropriate” as he is pushing the Kremlin to come to the table and negotiate a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war.  

“You’ve got to get the war ended. A war that should have taken one week is now in its soon fourth year,” the president said on Monday. “That’s what you ought to do, instead of testing missiles.” 

“We test missiles all the time. They’re not playing games with us, and we’re not playing games with them either,” Trump added.  

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Moscow successfully tested a new atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone. The test was conducted on Tuesday, with Putin claiming the nuclear reactor that powers the Poseidon drone is “100 times smaller” than those on submarines.  

Updated at 10:27 p.m. EDT