British News Agency

Writing on Truth Social shortly before his anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, Trump said: “Due to the testing programs of other countries, I have ordered the Department of War to begin testing our nuclear weapons on equal terms. This process will begin immediately.”

The United States voluntarily halted nuclear explosive testing in 1992 but retains the capability to resume it at a facility in Nevada.

China’s last known nuclear weapons test took place in 1996, and Russia’s recent tests did not involve detonating nuclear weapons, only testing delivery technology.

Trump, who has recently toughened his rhetoric about U.S. military capabilities, said the decision to resume testing was about achieving parity with Moscow and Beijing.

In his social media post, Trump wrote: “The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country,” adding, “Russia is second, China is a distant third, but in five years they’ll be equal.”

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons reports that Russia has the most verified nuclear warheads — 5,449 compared to America’s 5,277. Together, the U.S. and Russia possess about 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Russia announced on Wednesday that it had tested a new long-range nuclear-powered underwater weapon and recently tested a nuclear-capable missile.

NBC News reported that the White House was asked to clarify whether Trump’s post referred to nuclear capabilities or actual nuclear weapons.

Trump did not answer journalists’ questions about whether he would alter his nuclear testing plans.

According to NBC News, during his first term, Trump aimed to increase America’s nuclear arsenal roughly tenfold.