Trump on Nuclear Tests: We're Going to Do Some Testing

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he might soon conduct an underground nuclear weapons test. He reiterated that other countries are doing so, so the U.S. intends to do the same.

Trump was asked about his earlier announcement to resume nuclear testing while speaking to reporters aboard his plane en route to Florida. Asked if he meant literally detonating nuclear devices at an underground testing site, the US president replied:

- You'll find out soon, but we'll be doing some testing.

Trump again stated that "other countries do it."

" And if they do it, we will do it ," he added. He declined to elaborate.

Trump's statement failed to dispel most of the doubts the American president raised with his initial announcement to resume nuclear tests on Thursday.

On Thursday, Vice Admiral Richard Corell, Trump's nominee to command Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which is responsible for nuclear forces, said during a Senate hearing that Trump's announcement does not necessarily mean a return to nuclear detonations. To his knowledge, the last such test was conducted by North Korea in 2017, while China conducted its last test in 1996.

Correll agreed with one senator that Trump's words could be interpreted as an announcement of missile tests capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as Russia has recently conducted. In recent years, US authorities have raised suspicions that China and Russia may have conducted low-yield nuclear explosions at their respective test sites, but these suspicions have never been confirmed. The military official also assured that he is confident that the US arsenal is operational and ready if necessary.

From Washington, Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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