Hegseth: Nuclear tests bolster credible strategic deterrence, lower risk of nuclear conflict

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth leaves after a bilateral meeting with Malaysia’s Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,

Bill Gertz

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — President Trump’s decision to resume nuclear tests was needed to strengthen the credibility of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and will help prevent nuclear war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.

Mr. Hegseth told reporters the Pentagon will partner with the Energy Department, which is in charge of maintaining nuclear warheads, on resuming underground tests after Mr. Trump announced this week that the testing will resume.

“The president was clear: We need to have a credible nuclear deterrent. That is the baseline of our deterrence,” Mr. Hegseth said during a meeting with Kao Kim Hourn, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, host of an international defense leaders’ conference.

Understanding nuclear warhead capabilities and resuming testing is “a very responsible way to do that,” he said.

“I think it makes nuclear conflict less likely if you know what you have and make sure it operates properly,” he said of underground testing that was halted in 1992.

The Pentagon is moving quickly to implement the president’s directive to resume testing, Mr. Hegseth said.

“We don’t seek conflict with China or any other nation, but the stronger we are, the stronger our alliances are, the more we work with allies in this region and around the

world, I think the less likely conflict becomes,” he said.

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Mr. Trump said the decision to begin testing again after a 33-year hiatus under a self-imposed testing moratorium was based on adversaries resuming nuclear tests. He provided no details on those tests.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said recently that if the United States begins nuclear testing again, Russia will also conduct nuclear tests.

“America will ensure that we have the strongest, most capable nuclear arsenal, so that we maintain peace through strength,” Mr. Hegseth said.

The defense chief said that, during multiple bilateral meetings with defense leaders from Southeast Asia states, he stressed the Trump administration’s approach to security is “peace through strength” and the nuclear arsenal is part of it.