God Abeg Oh : Global Tension Rises as Trump Orders Nuclear Weapons Test

US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he has instructed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing to match the programs of China and Russia — a move revealed just minutes before his high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The directive follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim a day earlier that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, dubbed Poseidon, despite warnings from Washington.

“Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis,” Trump said in a post on social media, directly naming Russia and China.

Trump also boasted that the United States still maintains the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, noting his administration’s “complete update and renovation” of existing weapons.

“Russia is second, and China is a distant third — but will catch up within five years,” he added.

According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), nine nations currently possess nuclear arms: the US, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. Of the estimated 12,331 nuclear warheads globally, Russia holds about 5,500, while the US controls roughly 5,000.

Although Trump provided no details on the scope of the planned tests, he said the process would “begin immediately.”

Meanwhile, Putin claimed Russia’s Poseidon drone could outrun conventional submarines, dive deep, and strike any continent, making it “impossible to intercept.” The announcement marked Russia’s second major weapons test in a week, following the launch of a cruise missile on Sunday — a move that drew criticism from Trump, who urged Putin to “end the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles.”

The United States last conducted a nuclear test in 1992, when a 20-kiloton underground explosion took place at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site. Then-President George H.W. Bush later imposed a moratorium on testing — a policy that has held for more than three decades, with research continuing through non-nuclear simulations.

Trump, currently in South Korea for a diplomatic summit, is set to meet Xi Jinping as the leaders of the world’s two largest economies engage face-to-face for the first time in his second term.