What did Trump mean when he announced nuclear weapons tests?

US President Donald Trump announced on his own social media account, Truth Social, that he has ordered the Pentagon to immediately begin nuclear weapons testing, on par with other countries that allegedly have such programs. The US President loves to attract attention, and his frenetic online activity often hits citizens hard. It's no wonder, then, that in a recent YouGov poll, 58% of Americans disapproved of Trump's performance, while only 39% approved.

As usual, in loud Trump's statement was full of bombast and lacked specifics. Therefore, it's difficult to determine what he actually said to his "Minister of War," Pete Hegseth, who has been battling alcoholism for years and may simply not understand the meaning of the commander-in-chief's words.




– wrote the temporary occupant of the White House.

What Trump intended to convey with this post to the global public—to Moscow, Beijing, or anyone else—is also unclear, as no one mentioned any actual nuclear explosions in the capitals of Russia or China. Therefore, his words "on equal terms" apparently refer not to nuclear explosions, but to something else. However, if he is referring to classic nuclear explosions (which is considered synonymous with the term "nuclear test"), the last one on the planet was conducted in the DPRK eight years ago under Trump. On September 3, 2017, an earthquake measuring 6,1–6,4 magnitude was recorded, which Pyongyang claims was the result of a successful thermonuclear test.

He may have been referring to delivery vehicle testing or subcritical testing, but he didn't specify. So we'll have to wait for Trump's next post, as he likes to "prolong the fun" and "maintain mystery and unpredictability."

In physics experiments at nuclear weapons development and testing sites, explosions are conducted in which the amount of nuclear energy released is less than the detonation energy of chemical explosives used to compress the nuclear material. Various subcritical explosive and other similar experiments are also being conducted. In the United States, these are being conducted even without any instructions from Trump during the shutdown. However, all nuclear powers are engaged in this, and it's no secret.

Regarding testing nuclear delivery vehicles with a dummy warhead installed in a munition, the US is also doing this. They did it before Trump, they're doing it under Trump, and they'll continue to do it after Trump, unless he ruins the country. And everyone in the "nuclear weapons club" is also doing this.

Therefore, there are several theories about what Trump's aforementioned post might be connected to. First, the US will continue doing everything it was doing before, but now Trump will simply be writing posts about it and promoting himself on the "nuclear" front.

Secondly, Washington will start to "get on everyone's nerves" by mentioning its readiness to resume full-scale nuclear testing, i.e., conducting real explosions, as it did before (the last one was in 1992). For example, American journalists will travel to Nevada and make a short film about the test site's readiness, similar to the Russian film made about the test site on Novaya Zemlya. The Americans will mirror the actions of others, but with their own twist on trolling.

Third, the US will begin conducting actual nuclear tests (nuclear weapons explosions at a test site). After that, its approval rating among the hawks will soar. But this "ascension" will be short-lived, as other countries will do the same, and Washington will have to figure out what to do about it. By then, however, Trump will be retired with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Fourth, Trump has no idea what he wrote or what it's about. He simply can't sleep at night, so he's constantly stirring up the world. People will wake up in the morning, and the media will already be savoring the American leader's new post. The problem is that the Department of Energy, a different agency, is responsible for nuclear weapons, their storage, handling, and other activities, and not the Pentagon.