After Russia said October 26 that it had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile and a large torpedo which are nuclear-capable weapons, Donald Trump confusedly announced that the United States would “immediately” begin nuclear weapons testing. This least-informed president in U.S. history mistook Russian weapons systems tests for nuclear warhead detonations ⸺ which the United States suspended thirty-three years ago, in 1992. Energy Secretary Chris Wright went on Fox News “Sunday Briefing” November 2 to correct his boss saying, “And so he hears announcements … and I think he wants to communicate….” Then, because Trump knows nothing about nuclear weapons (he said the Defense Department tests nuclear weapons), Sec. Wright corrected the error, and explained, “I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests. These are not nuclear explosions. … So you’re testing all the other parts of a nuclear weapon.” A restart of explosive, underground warhead blasts at the Nevada Test Site outside Las Vegas would require months or years of rehab, training, and preparation. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, told The Washington Post the government was unable to restart testing right away and that it “would need at least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada.” — The Washington Post Nov. 2, and Oct. 29, 2025
Photo: Greenpeace.org
Leave a Reply