Donald Trump has alleged that a slate of countries, including China, Russia, and Pakistan, are conducting secret nuclear tests. However, these claims are unverified, as North Korea is the only nation known to have conducted a nuclear detonation in recent decades.
Despite this, Trump insisted his claims were fact. “Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it,” he said in a television interview. He alleged the tests were happening “way underground.”
Based on these claims, Trump ordered the U.S. to resume its own testing. “I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” he wrote on social media.
China, a main target of his accusations, issued a forceful denial. The foreign ministry stated that China is a “responsible nuclear-weapons state” and has strictly “abided by its commitment to suspend nuclear testing.”
Trump’s order has sparked confusion over whether the U.S. will end its 1992 moratorium on nuclear explosions. The move also follows reports of a new Russian nuclear-powered missile test.