A vague statement opens a range of expensive possibilities.
Decker Eveleth
An associate research analyst at CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization based in Washington.A view of the entrance of White Sands Missile Range, where the Trinity nuclear test site is located, near White Sands, New Mexico, on Feb. 21, 2024.A view of the entrance of White Sands Missile Range, where the Trinity nuclear test site is located, near White Sands, New Mexico, on Feb. 21, 2024. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
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While on his way to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for trade negotiations, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a short statement on Oct. 29 that appeared to suggest the United States would shortly resume explosive nuclear testing. “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” he said on Truth Social.
What Trump means by this is unclear at best, and he has now been contradicted by the U.S. energy secretary, leaving the waters even murkier. While some have assumed that this constitutes a direct order to resume explosive testing of nuclear devices, stating that the United States would be testing on an “equal basis” suggests this is more about testing delivery systems, or conducting very-low yield supercritical tests of materials and subcomponents, not warheads themselves.
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Decker Eveleth is an associate research analyst at CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization based in Washington. He studies foreign nuclear postures utilizing satellite imagery. He holds a master’s degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a bachelor’s degree from Reed College.
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