Mr. Trump made the assertion to O'Donnell just days after the president's own nominee to lead STRATCOM — the U.S. military command in charge of nuclear weapons — told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that neither China nor Russia were conducting nuclear explosive tests. Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine multiple times since he ordered the full-scale invasion of the country on Feb. 24, 2022, and Russia has repeatedly warned the West that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire Western-made missiles deep into its territory, it would consider the U.S. and its NATO allies to be directly involved in the war. Mr. Trump has not been clear about whether his stated plan to have the U.S. military test its nuclear arsenal includes conducting actual atomic explosions, which have not been carried out in the U.S. for over 30 years, or just expanded testing of the weapons systems used to deliver nuclear warheads.
Author: Tucker Reals, Haley Ott, Nicole Brown Chau
Published at: 2025-11-05 21:25:07
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