Washington, D.C. — October 31, 2025 — In a sharp rebuke that echoed through the halls of Congress and reverberated across international diplomatic channels, Democratic U.S. senators unleashed a torrent of criticism against President Donald Trump on Thursday, following his abrupt announcement directing the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing after a 33-year moratorium. The move, revealed in a late-night social media post from South Korea, has ignited fears of a renewed arms race, environmental catastrophe, and undermined U.S. credibility on nonproliferation, with critics labeling it a dangerous gamble in an already volatile geopolitical landscape.
President Trump, speaking from Busan during a high-stakes trade summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, declared that he had instructed the Department of Defense to "immediately" initiate nuclear testing "on an equal basis" with rival powers like Russia and China. "The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country," Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming the U.S. stockpile—estimated at 5,177 warheads by the Federation of American Scientists—had been fully updated during his first term. He justified the order by alleging that "other countries' testing programs" necessitated reciprocity, adding, "Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years." The announcement came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted of successful tests for a nuclear-powered Poseidon torpedo and a Burevestnik cruise missile, though experts clarified these were non-explosive demonstrations of delivery systems, not full warhead detonations.
The directive marks a seismic shift from decades of U.S. policy. The last American nuclear test—a 1.1-megaton underground blast at the Nevada National Security Site—occurred on September 23, 1992, under President George H.W. Bush. Since then, the U.S. has adhered to a voluntary moratorium, relying on advanced computer simulations, subcritical experiments, and annual stockpile stewardship certifications to maintain arsenal reliability. No nuclear-armed state besides North Korea, which last tested in 2017, has conducted an explosive test in over a quarter-century. Post-Soviet Russia has not detonated a warhead since 1990, and China's final test was in 1996. Trump's order, if implemented, would shatter this fragile consensus, potentially violating the spirit—if not the letter—of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which the U.S. signed but never ratified.
Democratic lawmakers wasted no time in framing the decision as a profound threat to global stability. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a scathing statement calling it "a very dangerous and reckless move by the president." In an interview with reporters outside the Capitol, Shaheen elaborated, "Resuming nuclear tests would end a more than 30-year moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons for the United States, and we would be doing so unilaterally. Neither Russia nor China has tested nuclear weapons since 1992. The harmful toll that nuclear testing has wrought on Americans and our environment is the product of a chapter of history that should remain in the past."
Her words underscored a bipartisan historical consensus on the perils of testing, referencing the over 1,000 U.S. detonations between 1945 and 1992 that released radiation equivalent to 150 Hiroshima bombs, contaminating vast swaths of land and water. Downwind communities in Utah and Nevada, dubbed "downwinders," continue to suffer elevated cancer rates, with the federal government paying out billions in compensation. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club echoed Shaheen's alarm, warning that fresh tests could exacerbate climate vulnerabilities by injecting radioactive particles into the atmosphere.
The backlash intensified during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday afternoon, where Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), whose home state hosted 928 of America's nuclear tests during the Cold War, delivered an impassioned floor speech laced with personal resolve. Nevada's deserts bore the brunt of atmospheric and underground blasts from 1951 to 1992, leaving a legacy of scarred landscapes and health crises that Rosen, a former computer programmer turned senator, knows intimately. "President Trump last night took the reckless, irresponsible and dangerous step to declare that we will resume explosive nuclear testing despite no evidence supporting the need to do so," Rosen declared, her voice steady but edged with fury. "If this resumption happens, the amount of radiation exposure and destruction would be felt across the country and around the world. Make no mistake, this would be devastating and catastrophic. So, I'm going to be crystal clear: I will not let this happen."
Rosen's vow resonated deeply in Nevada, where the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository remains a flashpoint. She pledged to leverage her position on the Intelligence Committee to block funding, joining a chorus of Western Democrats. "Nevadans still remember the nuclear testing era, and it left lasting radioactive contamination across millions of acres of land," she posted on X later that evening. "Our nuclear stockpile is annually certified to be both safe and effective, and there’s no evidence that resuming explosive testing is necessary. Trump’s directive is reckless and dangerous, and I’ll do anything I can to stop it." Her remarks drew applause from colleagues and swift endorsements from downwinder advocacy groups, who fear a resurgence could doom ongoing cleanup efforts budgeted at $2.7 billion annually.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a Navy combat veteran and former NASA astronaut with firsthand experience in high-stakes national security, voiced parallel concerns during a press gaggle on Capitol Hill. Drawing on his briefing room expertise, Kelly argued that the tests would erode U.S. moral authority without enhancing deterrence. "It's concerning that the president thinks that we need to resume the testing of nuclear warheads, something we haven't done in over three decades," he told reporters. "Testing the warhead itself is something we do not need to do, and when the president says something like that—if we were to test a nuclear warhead, and then the Chinese start doing it—just helps the Chinese. It doesn't help us." In a pointed X post, Kelly elaborated: "New nuclear tests are unnecessary escalation by a President who doesn’t seem to be paying attention. The Chinese and the Russians HAVEN’T conducted a recent test of a nuclear warhead. It’s been decades. If we resume testing our weapons (which we have no reason to do), China will likely begin a test program. This only helps them advance their technology and start an arms race. Read your briefing materials, Mr. President."
Kelly's critique highlights a key technical reality: U.S. warheads are certified reliable through the $20 billion-a-year National Nuclear Security Administration program, which uses supercomputers to simulate yields without explosions. Resuming tests, experts estimate, could take 24 to 36 months and cost billions more, per a Congressional Research Service report. Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists called it "reckless, probably not possible for 18 months," while Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association deemed Trump "misinformed and out of touch." The senator's words also tied into broader Democratic frustrations, including a government shutdown over Trump's tariff demands, which Kelly addressed in a separate video: "Government is shut down, health care prices are increasing, and Trump is cutting off food stamps. This isn't the time for Republicans to be sending the Senators home for the weekend."
The Senate's Democratic caucus mobilized swiftly. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, announced plans to introduce legislation barring funding for tests, declaring, "The U.S. has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992 and we must not resume. This is a reckless decision that will only make us less safe and lead to a new nuclear arms race." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) amplified the assault, asserting on the House floor that the order "would be a clear violation of international law," contravening CTBT norms and risking alliances with nonproliferation partners like Japan and South Korea. Even former Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath of Kentucky weighed in on X, slamming the directive as a betrayal of veterans and global peace efforts.
Internationally, the announcement sent shockwaves. United Nations Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq, speaking for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, invoked the "disastrous legacy" of over 2,000 global tests since 1945, which have caused an estimated 2.4 million premature deaths from radiation, according to a 2023 UN report. "As he has said, we must never forget the disastrous legacy... and that nuclear testing can never be permitted under any circumstances," Haq told reporters, urging de-escalation to avert "catastrophic consequences." Russia's Foreign Ministry called it "provocative," while China's state media accused Trump of "hegemonistic posturing" amid the Busan summit, where trade tariffs loomed large. Analysts warn Beijing, projected to reach 1,000 warheads by 2030 per Pentagon estimates, could accelerate modernization in response.
Republican defenders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, countered that testing ensures "our weapons systems work," framing it as prudent deterrence. Vice President JD Vance echoed support on X, but the White House offered no timeline, with Pentagon spokespeople mum on logistics. The Nevada Test Site, dormant since 1992, would likely host any blasts, requiring billions in reactivation—funds Democrats vow to starve.
As the sun set on Capitol Hill, the divide crystallized: a president invoking Cold War bravado against a party invoking post-Cold War restraint. With the Doomsday Clock ticking at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest ever—Shaheen's warning lingers: this is not history's echo, but a prologue to peril. Congress reconvenes next week amid shutdown chaos, where nuclear funding battles could collide with tariff fights and SNAP cuts. For now, the world watches, bracing for fallout—literal and figurative.
