Senator Markey Warns Trump Against Restarting U.S. Nuclear Weapons Testing

Democratic U.S. Senator Edward Markey has urged President Donald Trump not to resume explosive nuclear weapons testing, warning that such a move could trigger similar actions by Russia and China and escalate global nuclear tensions. Markey, a long-time advocate for nuclear non-proliferation and co-chair of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, emphasized that restarting U.S. nuclear tests after a 33-year halt would undermine national security rather than strengthen it.

Trump recently announced on social media that he had instructed the Pentagon to immediately restart the process of nuclear weapons testing. The announcement caused confusion, as the National Nuclear Security Administration—part of the U.S. Department of Energy—is the agency responsible for conducting nuclear explosive tests. The White House reaffirmed that the process would begin “immediately,” citing the need to respond to what they described as other countries’ nuclear testing programs. A White House official asserted that Trump’s decision was aligned with efforts to maintain a “strong, credible and effective nuclear deterrent,” despite the president’s stated desire to see global denuclearization.

Markey countered that a single U.S. test could give Russia and China justification to conduct larger and more advanced nuclear tests, potentially enabling them to develop new, more dangerous nuclear weapons. He highlighted Trump’s claims that Russia and China may be conducting hydronuclear tests—small, hard-to-detect nuclear experiments—but stressed that reports from 2019 remain unconfirmed and do not warrant resuming U.S. testing.

Following Trump’s statements, CIA Director John Ratcliffe publicly supported the president’s concerns, while Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered officials to draft proposals for a possible Russian nuclear test—the first since the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

Markey has requested that Trump provide evidence by December 15 to substantiate claims of secret nuclear testing by Russia and China, and he questioned whether Trump may be confusing missile tests with nuclear explosive tests.

This renewed debate underscores growing geopolitical tensions and the potential global consequences of resuming nuclear testing.