Trump declines to clarify if the US will conduct tests of its nuclear
weapons
[November 01, 2025]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and MANUEL BALCE CENETA
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump declined to say
Friday whether he plans to resume underground nuclear detonation tests,
as he had seemed to suggest in a social media post this week that raised
concerns the U.S. would begin testing nuclear weapons for the first time
in three decades.
The president told reporters "You’ll find out very soon,” without
elaborating when asked if he means to resume underground nuclear
detonation tests.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered few details on Friday when asked
about what nuclear testing the Pentagon would oversee. But he seemed to
indicate to reporters that the intent was to test warheads when he said
“resuming testing” would be “pretty responsible."
Trump, who spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to
Florida for a weekend stay, said, “We’re going to do some testing” and
“Other countries do it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going to” but
then refused to offer more details.
His comments on nuclear testing have drawn confusion inside and outside
the government when the president seemed to suggest in a brief post that
the U.S. would resume nuclear warhead tests on an “equal basis” with
Russia and China, whose last known tests were in the 1990s. Some of
Trump's comments seemed to refer to testing missiles that would deliver
a warhead, rather than the warhead itself. There has been no indication
that the U.S. would start detonating warheads.
The U.S. military already regularly tests its missiles that are capable
of delivering a nuclear warhead, but it has not detonated the weapons
since 1992. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the U.S.
signed but did not ratify, has been observed since its adoption by all
countries possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea being the only
exception.
The Pentagon has not responded to questions. The Energy Department,
which oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile, declined to comment Friday.
Hegseth, speaking as he appeared at a meeting of defense ministers in
Malaysia on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, said the Pentagon would work with the Energy Department.
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President Donald Trump waves from the stairs of Air Force One as he
boards upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Oct. 31,
2025, en route to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP
Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
“The president was clear: We need to have a credible nuclear
deterrent," he said. “That is the baseline of our deterrence.” He
said "resuming testing is a pretty responsible — very responsible —
way to do that. And I think it makes nuclear conflict less likely.”
He added a few moments later: “It’s the right directive. We’ve
moving out quickly."
Trump's post on nuclear tests came as Russia this week announced it
had tested a new atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone
and a new nuclear-powered cruise missile.
Russia responded to Trump's post by underscoring that it did not
test its nuclear weapons and has abided by a global ban on nuclear
testing. The Kremlin warned though, that if the U.S. resumes testing
its weapons, Russia will as well — an intensification that would
restart Cold War-era tensions.
Vice Adm. Richard Correll, Trump’s nominee to lead the military
command in charge of the nation’s nuclear arsenal, struggled to
interpret the president's comments when he testified before senators
during a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday, telling them, “I’m not
reading anything into it or reading anything out of it.”
___
Price reported from Washington.
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