 "'They don't talk about it': Trump says Russia, China conducted secret underground nuclear tests")
US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that nuclear-armed nations, including Russia and China, have carried out undisclosed underground nuclear tests.
“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it,” Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes when asked about his surprise order last week for the United States to conduct nuclear tests. “You don’t necessarily know where they’re testing… They test way underground where people don’t know exactly what’s happening with the test,” he said.
His remarks came days after he issued an unexpected directive on Thursday calling for the testing of US nuclear weapons, sparking global unease and speculation over whether live detonations were planned.
Confusion over US testing plans fuels global reaction
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump reiterated his stance but declined to clarify whether the order involved underground explosions—the first such tests in the United States since 1992. “I am not going to say,” he told an AFP journalist. “You’ll find out very soon, but we’re going to do some testing, yeah. Other countries do it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going do it,” he added while en route to his Florida golf resort for Halloween.
No country except North Korea has conducted an explosive nuclear test in recent decades, with Russia and China halting theirs in 1990 and 1996, respectively. Trump made his surprise announcement through social media just minutes before attending a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.
The move followed reports that Russia had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, along with a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone.
Iran, whose own nuclear programme was struck by US forces earlier this year under Trump’s orders, condemned the announcement. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the directive “regressive and irresponsible,” writing on social media that “a nuclear-armed bully is resuming testing of atomic weapons” while “demonising Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme”.
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