In a surprising turn of events, Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to ramp up nuclear testing “immediately” on Wednesday evening. This directive came just ahead of a crucial meeting between the former U.S. President and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump took to his social media platform to reveal this unexpected military strategy, citing the need to counteract the advancements of Russia and China in the global arms race.

“The United States possesses more nuclear weapons than any other nation,” Trump stated.

“This achievement, alongside a comprehensive update and refurbishment of our existing arsenal, was completed during my first term in office. Despite the overwhelming destructive potential, it was a step I was reluctant to take but saw no alternative!” he explained.

In his comments on the arms race, Trump remarked, “Russia ranks second, with China trailing at a distance, although they are projected to catch up within five years.”

He concluded by declaring his initiative to bolster nuclear tests to stay competitive with these rival nations.

‘Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,’ he declared. ‘That process will begin immediately.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Pentagon for comment. 

The move comes after Putin said on Sunday that Russia had successfully tested its ‘unstoppable’ nuclear-powered cruise missile. Moscow says the weapon, called the ‘Flying Chernobyl,’ can pierce any defense shield, and has ‘unlimited range’.

Asked on Air Force One about the test of the missile, dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO, Trump said the United States did not need its nukes to fly so far as it had a nuclear submarine off the coast of Russia.

Donald Trump announced that the US Department of War will ramp up nuclear testing immediately to combat Russia and China from getting even in the arms race

Workers prepare the B61-13, a nuclear ‘gravity bomb’ 24 times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945

‘They know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shores, so I mean, [our missile] doesn’t have to go 8,000 miles,’ Trump told reporters, according to an audio file posted by the White House.

‘I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing for Putin to be saying, either, by the way: You ought to get the war ended, the war that should have taken one week is now in… its fourth year, that’s what you ought to do instead of testing missiles.’

In response to Trump on Monday, the Kremlin defiantly said that Russia would be guided by its own national interests.

‘Despite all our openness to establishing a dialogue with the United States, Russia, first of all, and the president of Russia, is guided by our own national interests,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

‘That’s how it was, that’s how it is, and that’s how it’s going to be.’

The Kremlin said Russia was ensuring its own security by developing new weapons.

‘There is nothing here that can and should strain relations between Moscow and Washington,’ Peskov said. 

Trump has repeatedly spoken of moving US submarines to Russia’s coast after remarks by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries.

The president made the announcement on Truth Social just hours before his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping

The US has not conducted a real-world test of a nuclear bomb since 1992 

It is rare for either side to discuss in public the location of nuclear-armed submarines.

Speaking about the Russian missile test, Trump said: ‘We test missiles all the time.’

‘They’re not playing games with us and we’re not playing games with them either,’ he added.

On Sunday, the Russian president announced the ‘successful’ secret test flight on October 21 of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile.

Dressed in military uniform, Putin spoke of the weapon during a late-night visit to a war command post, where he was briefed on the Ukrainian frontline by Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, 70.

As he made his remarks, Russian missiles pounded residential blocks in Kyiv, in a barbaric attack, killing at least three sleeping civilians and injuring nearly 30 others, including seven children.

Defying Trump’s latest calls for peace, Putin also revealed details of nuclear war drills carried out by his forces over the past week.

‘The modernity of our….nuclear deterrent forces, is at the highest level,’ he boasted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi in 2024

‘Well, it would probably be no exaggeration to say that it is at a higher level than all nuclear states.’

He revealed new tests on a missile intended to fly for days at a time and able to counter all current Western defenSes.

The US has not conducted a real-world test of a nuclear bomb since 1992. 

After decades of declining nuclear stockpiles, the nuclear agency sees a real possibility that more countries around the world – including India, Pakistan, and North Korea – are preparing to enter a nuclear arms race.

As of 2023, the US Department of Energy reports that America has 3,748 nuclear warheads.

However, the nonpartisan Arms Control Association estimated that the number was significantly higher, putting the total at 5,225 as of January 2025.

Currently, progress on a treaty banning the testing of nuclear weapons has stalled, and there is already evidence that world powers are moving ahead with nuclear rearmament.

Most of America’s plutonium has been sitting around for decades, leading to fears that the radioactive decay will damage the unused weapons. 

Plutonium has five ‘common’ isotopes which have different rates of decay, ranging from just 87 years to over 24,000 years, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

This is a developing story.