‘Weakness masquerading as strength’: California Governor Gavin Newsom hits out at Trump’s plan to resume nuclear testing

‘Trump directed wrong agency’

Newsom also accused Trump of directing the wrong federal agency to test the weapons.

“He doesn’t even know. He said the Pentagon should do it. Wake up, Mr. President. I know he may have jet lag. It’s the Department of Energy. He doesn’t even know which agency is responsible for that,” Newsom said.

Trump’s plan to resume US nuclear testing

Newsom’s comments come a day after Trump said on Wednesday that he had directed the Defense Department to “immediately” start testing nuclear weapons if other countries are doing the same, without naming any.

“Because of other testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump also claimed that the United States “has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country.

“This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years,” Trump said.

US last tested a nuclear weapon in 1992

The US conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992. The last time the US carried out a nuclear test was in September 1992 at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site. The then-president George HW Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests in October 1992, and it has remained in place ever since.

Another nuclear arms race?

Trump’s plan to resume US nuclear testing comes at a time when there are renewed fears of another global arms race.

Recently, Russia announced that it had successfully carried out a final test of its Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who made the announcement on Sunday, the missile is “a unique weapon that no other country possesses,” claiming it has “unlimited range.”

However, following Trump’s announcement, a Kremlin spokesperson said its test of the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon underwater drone did not constitute a direct test of an atomic weapon.

“We hope that the information was conveyed correctly to President Trump,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. He also suggested that Russia would conduct its own live warhead tests if Trump did it first.

Iran also condemned Trump’s plan to resume nuclear weapons testing, calling it a “serious threat” to international peace and security.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that the United States poses the world’s “most dangerous proliferation risk” and urged the international community to hold Washington accountable for “normalizing the proliferation of such heinous weapons.”

He also accused Washington of “demonising Iran’s peaceful nuclear program” while threatening strikes on Iranian facilities “in blatant violation of international law.”