A wide array of national security and intelligence community experts is strongly criticizing President Donald Trump’s new nuclear policy, announced on his social media website, which effectively orders the U.S. Department of Defense to halt a 33-year-old ban on nuclear weapons testing and begin the process again.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” Trump declared — wrongly, according to experts. “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,” he continued, in the moments before meeting with China’s President Xi for the first time in six years. “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The Steady State, an organization of over 300 former U.S. national security professionals across the intelligence, defense, diplomacy, and homeland security fields, slammed President Trump’s remarks.
“Nuclear testing isn’t something you greenlight in a post,” they wrote, “but turning national security into a fear show is how authoritarians rule.”
Other experts also slammed the president.
Tom Nichols, professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, where he taught for 25 years, is an expert on international security, nuclear weapons, and Russia.
At The Atlantic, Nichols wrote that Trump’s “reasoning is a bit confused: In the space of one short announcement, he managed to get a lot wrong, which is worrisome, because he’s the only person in America who has the authority to order the use of nuclear arms.”
Pointing to Trump’s post, Nichols explained, “Almost none of this is right.”
He wrote that Russia, not the U.S., has the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. And while China is third, Nichols appeared skeptical that they could reach parity with the U.S. in five years. Doing so would require 1,000 new nuclear warheads a year, when they have only constructed 100 in the past two years, he wrote.
“Also, the United States did not create some shiny new arsenal during Trump’s first term. It is true that America is about to spend a gigantic amount of money—roughly $1 trillion—to modernize its strategic nuclear arsenal, but that plan has been in the works since the Obama administration.”
Professor of Political Science Michael McFaul, the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, also condemned Trump’s order to restart testing of nuclear weapons.
“This makes absolutely no sense,” he wrote. “The only winner of renewed testing of nuclear weapons: China.”
The Washington Post’s lead global security analyst Josh Rogin, speaking on CNN overnight, said: “Trump’s brain probably thinks he’s acting tough, and then, by testing nuclear weapons, he’s showing American strength.”
He also noted that “the U.S. did sign a treaty to promise not to test nuclear weapons, and this would violate that, or at least abrogate that.”
Rogin added that “testing nuclear weapons has its own risks. Once we start testing, a lot of other people are gonna start testing.”
“But, you know, from Trump’s perspective, I’m sure, it means he thinks that, this is a real tough thing to do to really show the world that we’re not afraid to test our weapons, maybe we’re not afraid to use them.”