President Trump announced Wednesday night that the U.S. will resume testing nuclear weapons.
Why it matters: The U.S. hasn't conducted a nuclear test since 1992. If Trump follows through on the decision to resume testing, it could reignite a superpower arms race.
The intrigue: Trump made the announcement only an hour before he was scheduled to sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
What he's saying: "The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office," Trump posted on Truth Social.
- "Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years."
- "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."
Between the lines: Trump alluded to testing by "other countries." But there have been no public reports of Russia or China conducting full-fledged nuclear weapons testing.
- He may have been referencing Russia's recent test of a new long-range missile. Trump responded to a reporter's question on that test earlier this week by noting that "we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shores."
- The only country conducting major nuclear tests in recent years has been North Korea.
Zoom out: China's nuclear build-up is a source of great concern in the Pentagon, though it still has far fewer nukes than Russia and the U.S.
- However, an end to the moratorium on testing could arguably play to China's advantage if Beijing uses the opening to test the weapons it has in development.
Russia and the U.S. have both had massive stockpiles for many decades.
- Russia's stockpile is actually the world's largest, according to most public analyses, though the relevance is negligible since either arsenal is sufficient to end all life on earth.
Catch up quick: A global effort to ban nuclear tests to discourage the further proliferation of nuclear weapons led to the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), though nine countries including the U.S. did not ratify it.
- Only a handful of countries including India, Pakistan and North Korea have conducted full-fledged nuclear tests since that time.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional context.
