Trump floats return to nuclear testing

His suggestion to resume testing nuclear weapons after three decades stirs alarm.

- BY MICHELLE L. PRICE AND CHRIS MEGERIAN

PRESIDENT Trump posted about nuclear weapons shortly before meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

(ANDREW HARNIK/ Getty Images)

President Trump appeared to suggest the U.S. would resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China.

The Kremlin pointed out that a global ban on nuclear testing has remained in place but warned that if any country resumes nuclear testing Russia would follow suit.

There was no indication the U.S. would start detonating warheads, but the president offered few details about what seemed to be a significant shift in U.S. policy.

He made the announcement on social media minutes before he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea. When he spoke to reporters later aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington, he offered little clarity.

The U.S. military already regularly tests its missiles that are capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, but it has not detonated the weapons since 1992. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the U.S. signed but did not ratify, has been observed since its adoption by all countries possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea being the only exception.

Trump suggested, however, that changes were necessary because other countries were testing weapons. It was unclear what he was referring to, but it evoked Cold War-era escalations.

“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” he saidina post on his social media site. “That process will begin immediately.”

Kremlin warns it will respond in kind