MAKING SENSE OF TRUMP'S nuclear SABRE RATTLING

ON October 29, hours before his high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump issued a loaded statement claiming that Russia, China, North Korea and even Pakistan were secretly conducting nuclear tests but the US was not, in view of its moratorium commitments.

- TK VINEETH @ KOCHI

To level the playing field and to protect the US’ lead in the nuclear arms race, he said he was directing the Pentagon to resume nuclear tests after a gap of 33 years.

The statement, issued through the Truth Social platform, caused considerable alarm worldwide but Islamabad, Moscow and Beijing took no time to reject Trump’s claims as baseless. Russia even threatened to respond proportionately if the US were to abandon the 1992 moratorium on nuclear testing.

Why did Trump, who was till recently clamouring for a Nobel Peace Prize citing his supposed efforts to stop wars, suddenly drop the N-word? According to Trump, the US already has more nuclear weapons than any other country. Russia is second and China is a distant third but is fast catching up. He said, without proof, that China would bridge the gap in five years. “We're the only country that doesn't test... and I don't wanna be the only country that doesn't test,” Trump said in a subsequent interview to US television channel CBS News, in which he repeated the claims.

Context and intent

Trump’s message went out just before his scheduled in-person meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Pacific Rim summit in Busan, South Korea. The Truth Social post also came weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to continue to observe the nuclear arms limits of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) -- the last remaining nuclear arms deal between the US and Russia. In 2021, it was extended for five years till February 4, 2026. Putin said he was ready to extend it for one more year, subject to US reciprocation. Trump reportedly quipped that it “sounds like a good plan” but apart from that, there was no move to hash out a successor agreement.