Washington— US President Donald Trump has claimed that Pakistan is among the countries actively conducting nuclear tests, alongside Russia, China, and North Korea. He said this pattern of global activity justifies the United States’ decision to resume its own nuclear testing program after more than three decades.
In an interview with CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump stated that while other nations secretly carry out nuclear experiments, the US remains transparent about its activities. “Russia’s testing and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. We’re an open society. We talk about it because otherwise you people are going to report,” he said. “We’re going to test because they test and others test. And certainly North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing.”
The president made these remarks in response to a question about his recent decision to authorize the detonation of nuclear weapons, following Russia’s trials of advanced nuclear-capable systems, including the Poseidon underwater drone.
“You have to see how they work. The reason I’m saying testing is because Russia announced that they were going to be doing a test. If you notice, North Korea is testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We’re the only country that doesn’t test. And I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test,” Trump said during the interview.
He reiterated that the United States possesses “more nuclear weapons than any other country,” emphasizing his discussions on denuclearization with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world 150 times,” Trump claimed.
Last Thursday, Trump officially announced the immediate resumption of US nuclear testing, calling it “appropriate” given Russia and China’s continued advancements. “They seem to all be nuclear testing,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One. “We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing… but with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also.”
He confirmed that preparations for nuclear tests are already underway, though he declined to specify the exact timing or location.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a law ending the defunct plutonium disposal agreement with the US, which was originally designed to limit the production of weapons-grade nuclear material. The 2000 pact had required both countries to dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium no longer needed for military purposes.
