Web Desk — November 3, 2025
Washington: US President Donald Trump claimed in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that Pakistan, China, Russia, and North Korea are secretly conducting nuclear weapons tests, justifying his recent order to resume American testing after a 33-year moratorium.
Trump told host Norah O’Donnell: “Russia’s testing, China’s testing… Certainly North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing.” He argued the US must match rivals, saying: “We’re an open society—we talk about it. They don’t, but we’re gonna test because they test and others test.”
The remarks, aired Sunday, defend Trump’s October 29 directive to the Pentagon for “equal basis” testing with Russia and China—issued en route to his Xi Jinping summit in Busan. No timeline was given, and experts note only North Korea has tested explosively since 1997 (last in 2017). Russia and China haven’t confirmed full tests since 1990 and 1996, though recent delivery system trials fueled speculation.
The US last detonated a nuclear device in 1992, adhering to the unratified 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Trump’s push, echoed in Project 2025, has alarmed allies and rivals. Kremlin called it “dangerous escalation,” while arms control groups warn it could spur India, Pakistan, and others to test anew, risking a proliferation cascade.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office dismissed the claims as “baseless,” reaffirming its no-first-use policy and tests only in 1998 for deterrence. China urged restraint, denying active testing. Analysts see this as leverage in trade talks, but fear it erodes global norms amid rising stockpiles: US (5,000+ warheads), Russia (5,500+), China (600, eyeing 1,000 by 2030), Pakistan (170), India (180), North Korea (50+).
