Support truly
independent journalism
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that a third World War is imminent, and that what he calls “the n-word” — nuclear war — poses a bigger threat to the globe than the climate crisis.
The day after his debate against Joe Biden last week, Trump said “the biggest problem we have in the whole world” is “nuclear weapons” and “nuclear warming.”
“That could happen tomorrow,” he told supporters in Virginia.
Trump’s allies are now suggesting that, if elected, Trump should restart underground nuclear weapons testing, a practice that the US gave up more than 30 years ago, and if resumed would likely fuel a global arms race in a volatile political moment.
Last month, Trump’s former national security adviser Robert O’Brien called on Trump to resume nuclear tests “for reliability and safety in the real world for the first time since 1992.”
Reactivating nuke tests will “maintain technical and numerical superiority to the combined Chinese and Russian nuclear stockpiles,” he wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine.
“No one wins a nuclear arms race, folks,” said Arms Control Association chief Daryl Kimball, who described O’Brien’s article as “dangerous, counterproductive, Dr. Strangelove thinking”.
“It’s a terrible idea,” former Obama energy secretary Ernest Moniz told The New York Times. “New testing would make us less secure. You can’t divorce it from the global repercussions.”
The US stockpile has 5,044 warheads, Russia possesses 5,580 and China has 500, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
O’Brien wants the US to maintain “technical and numerical superiority to the combined Chinese and Russian nuclear stockpiles” — marking a dramatic expansion of the nation’s nuclear stash.
Nuclear weapons testing and weapon stockpiling are key parts of the defense recommendations in Project 2025, the 900-page Heritage Foundation-backed manifesto for Trump’s second term.
Project 2025 calls for the rejection of current arms control treaties considered “contrary to the goal of bolstering nuclear deterrence.”
Any US detonation of its nuclear arsenal would violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was signed by the world’s atomic powers in 1996.
The Project 2025 proposals, written by Trump’s former defense secretary Christopher Miller, call for the acceleration of all weapons production and prioritize nuclear development over any other security programs, including boosting supplies above treaty limits, and creating a new nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile — that type of weapon was retired under George HW Bush more than 30 years ago.
Project 2025 also calls for gutting any non-nuclear programs at national laboratories, like those currently working on the climate crisis, and boosting plutonium production.
Earlier this year, the Heritage Foundation mapped out exactly how Trump would announce his nuclear ambitions.
The group proposed Trump making a major speech after his inauguration to “make the case to the American people that nuclear weapons are the ultimate guarantor of their freedom and prosperity.”
He then should direct Congress to boost funding for nuclear projects, put nuclear agencies on a “wartime footing,” and order the placement of nuclear warheads on a currently deployed fleet of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and ground-launched missiles.
The group also is pushing for Trump to expand nuclear weapons globally, adding to a stash of bombs at bases across Europe.
“If nuclear war happens, we won’t be second in line pressing the button,” Trump reportedly told then- Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello while surveying hurricane damage in 2017.
In 2018, Trump posted on Twitter that the US has a “much bigger & more powerful” nuclear launch button than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “And my button works!” he added.
America’s European allies are also bracing for any changes to the already-fragile nuclear status quo, with Russia’s war in Ukraine and Trump’s repeated threats to blow up the US relationship with NATO.
During a rally in South Carolina in February, Trump made those threats explicit, stating that he would not protect NATO allies under threat of Russian attacks if they are “delinquent” in their share of defense spending.
“I said, ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’” Trump said. “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”
Last month, the Congressional Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group warned against the already-soaring costs of nuclear modernization programs without sufficient review and oversight.
“The United States cannot preach temperance from a bar stool,” Senator Ed Markey said in a statement. “We have a responsibility to prevent the heightened threat of nuclear war.”
The Independent has requested comment from President Joe Biden’s administration and Trump’s campaign.
