US President Donald Trump told CBS that, in his view, several nuclear-armed states, including China and Pakistan, as well as Russia and North Korea, have been conducting nuclear tests. He used these assertions to justify his order for the Pentagon to resume explosive nuclear testing after a 33-year moratorium, saying the United States should not be the only country refraining from such tests.
Trump claimed that many nuclear tests are carried out covertly and go unreported because those governments do not allow open media coverage. He suggested that underground detonations can be hard to detect by the public, noting that seismic vibrations may be the only outward sign. He repeated the allegation that Pakistan and China are among the countries carrying out such hidden tests.
In the same interview, Trump said he had intervened diplomatically to prevent a potential nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan in May, arguing that his pressure and threat of economic consequences stopped an escalation that might have killed millions. He framed his actions as having defused an imminent and catastrophic conflict.
If China and Pakistan were indeed conducting secret tests, Trump’s claim implies heightened instability for India, which faces nuclear-armed rivals on two fronts. India has not conducted nuclear tests since 1998 and maintains a declared no-first-use policy, which would complicate any strategic response to covert testing by neighbouring powers.
The piece cites broad, contested figures for regional arsenals and trajectories, noting India’s inventory relative to China’s larger stockpile and Pakistan’s expanding tactical capabilities. It raises the strategic question of whether renewed U.S. testing and alleged clandestine tests elsewhere might prompt new rounds of regional posturing or technical validation efforts by India.
Finally, the article suggests that the current statements and policy shifts could open political and military debate in India about validating past thermonuclear claims and advancing delivery and warhead technologies, though such steps would carry significant diplomatic and nonproliferation consequences.
