Trump Administration Explored Resuming Nuclear Testing — First Time Since 1992
The Washington Post reported in May 2020 that senior Trump administration officials — including representatives from the Defense and State Departments — discussed at a meeting whether to conduct a nuclear test explosion. The discussions were presented as leverage in arms control negotiations with Russia and China. No test took place, but the public discussion of resuming testing — after a 28-year U.S. moratorium — was treated by arms control experts as a significant destabilization of the global non-proliferation architecture. The Trump administration had already withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and signaled disinterest in extending New START.
Overview
For 28 years, the United States had not detonated a nuclear weapon. The moratorium, in place since 1992, had become a foundational element of the global non-proliferation framework — one that operated even without the U.S. ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
In May 2020, the Trump administration discussed ending that moratorium.
The Context
The discussions were framed as leverage. The administration accused Russia and China of conducting low-yield nuclear tests in violation of the CTBT, and some officials proposed that the U.S. ability to demonstrate it could test — or actually testing — might pressure those countries into arms control compliance.
Arms control experts noted the flaw in this reasoning: U.S. testing would not constrain Russian or Chinese testing. It would remove the last remaining norm-based constraint on their testing programs and end three decades of global progress toward a test-free world.
The Broader Pattern
The nuclear testing discussions were not an isolated event. The Trump administration had already withdrawn from the INF Treaty in 2019. It was resisting extension of New START, the strategic arms reduction treaty that caps deployed nuclear warheads. It had increased the Defense Department's nuclear weapons budget and loosened the criteria for nuclear first use in its Nuclear Posture Review.
The administration systematically dismantled the architecture of nuclear restraint that had been built over four decades. The testing discussions were the most visible expression of that project.
Timeline
Sequence of events
August 2, 2019
Trump withdraws from INF Treaty
The Trump administration formally withdraws the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing Russian violations. Russia and China had opposed the treaty. Arms control experts warn the withdrawal removes a key constraint on intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe and Asia.
May 22, 2020
Nuclear testing discussions reported
The Washington Post and New York Times report that senior administration officials discussed whether to conduct a nuclear test explosion in May 2020. The discussions involved Defense and State Department representatives and were framed as potential leverage in trilateral arms control talks with Russia and China.
February 3, 2021
Biden extends New START, reaffirms moratorium
The Biden administration extends the New START strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia for five years and reaffirms the U.S. commitment to the nuclear testing moratorium. The New START extension had been opposed by the Trump administration.
Sources
- ↑ Trump administration discussed conducting first U.S. nuclear test in decades — The Washington Post
- ↑ U.S. Officials Discussed Resuming Nuclear Testing, Officials Say — The New York Times
- ↑ Trump Administration's Nuclear Testing Discussions: A Dangerous Step Backward — Arms Control Association
Verification