Trump Ends U.S. Nuclear-Testing Moratorium

President Donald Trump announced Oct. 30 that he had instructed the Pentagon — which he called the “Department of War” — to immediately resume testing of U.S. nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, saying this ended the U.S. moratorium on explosive nuclear tests in place since 1992. He provided few details and appeared to conflate tests of nuclear-capable delivery systems with explosive warhead detonations, leaving unclear whether the U.S. will conduct nuclear‑explosion tests or only flight and weapons‑system trials. The proclamation came minutes before his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan. The order followed recent Russian claims of tests of novel systems, including the Burevestnik nuclear‑powered cruise missile and the Poseidon underwater drone; Moscow denied that the Burevestnik trial amounted to a nuclear test. China urged Washington to abide by the Comprehensive Nuclear‑Test‑Ban Treaty and maintain its testing moratorium, while observers warned the announcement could accelerate an arms race and strain global nonproliferation regimes.