Trump’s surprise order to test nuclear weapons triggers global tensions
INTERNATIONAL – USA
1 NOVEMBER 2025
- U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise directive to begin nuclear weapons testing provoked global criticism on 31st October 2025, as it raised the spectre of renewed superpower tensions.
- The announcement on social media was issued just before Mr. Trump – who boasts frequently about being a peace president – went into a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.
- Mr. Trump’s announcement left much unanswered – chiefly whether he meant testing weapons systems or actually conducting test explosions, something the United States has not done since 1992.
- China and the United States observe a de facto moratorium on testing nuclear warheads, though Russia and the United States regularly run military drills involving nuclear-capable systems.
- The United States has been a signatory since 1996 to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all atomic test explosions, whether for military or civilian purposes.
- The announcement came days after Russia declared it had tested nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missiles and sea drones.
- India has not signed or ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). India views the treaty as discriminatory because it does not include a commitment to universal, time-bound nuclear disarmament by the existing nuclear weapons states.
- As of 2025, 180 states have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), but the treaty has not yet entered into force because not all 44 Annex 2 states (those with nuclear power or research reactors that participated in the 1996 negotiations)have ratified it.
- Key states that have signed but not ratified include the United States, China, Iran, Israel, and Egypt.
- Three states—India, North Korea, and Pakistan—have not even signed the treaty.
