Trump Claims Pakistan Is Conducting Nuclear Weapons Tests

In a major revelation, US President Donald Trump has claimed that Pakistan is among the countries currently conducting nuclear weapons tests, alongside Russia, China, and North Korea.

Trump made the remarks during an interview with CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Sunday, while defending his decision to resume US nuclear testing after more than three decades.

“Russia’s testing and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. We’re an open society. We talk about it because otherwise you people [the media] are going to report. They don’t have reporters that are going to be writing about it,” Trump told 60 Minutes.

He added, “We’re going to test because they test, and others test. And certainly, North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing.”

The statement came as Trump justified his administration’s move to restart nuclear tests, a decision that marks a significant escalation in global nuclear posturing following Russia’s recent trials of advanced nuclear-capable systems, including its Poseidon underwater drone.

“You have to see how they work,” Trump said. “The reason I’m saying testing is because Russia announced they were going to do a test. North Korea is testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We’re the only country that doesn’t test, and I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test.”

He further declared, “We’re going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do.”

The President also asserted that the United States holds “more nuclear weapons than any other country” and revealed that he had discussed denuclearisation issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world 150 times,” Trump claimed. “Russia has a lot of nuclear weapons, and China will have a lot, they already have quite a bit.”

Trump had earlier, on Thursday, announced the “immediate resumption” of nuclear weapons testing, citing recent Russian trials as the primary reason. Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, he said that while denuclearisation would be “a tremendous thing,” restarting nuclear testing was now “appropriate.”

“They seem to all be nuclear testing,” he remarked, referring to Russia and China. “We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing, but with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also.”

Trump also hinted that preparations for US nuclear tests were already underway, though he did not disclose the timeline or locations.

When asked whether renewed testing could heighten global tensions, Trump replied, “I think we have it pretty well locked up.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a law officially terminating a long-defunct plutonium disposal agreement with the United States. The 2000 pact had committed both nations to dispose of 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium once intended for military use, a key non-proliferation step that now appears to have unraveled amid renewed nuclear brinkmanship.

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