Trump’s impulsive and ignorant statement about resuming nuclear testing was truly terrifying. Not because it would blow up the CTBT, which the U.S. has never ratified but, like Russia and China, continues to adhere to but because it reflected how little understanding Trump has about nuclear weapons and their use and because it shows how recklessly impetuous Trump is. The reality is that the U.S. is nowhere near ready to begin underground nuclear testing. It would probably take the U.S. three years to get ready to test and the U.S., with its stockpile stewardship program, has no need for such testing, which would only trigger similar moves by Russia and China and others, who actually would benefit from such testing far more than the U.S. would.
The fact that Trump doesn’t even understand that tests of new delivery systems is not the same thing as a nuclear weapons test, which only North Korea has undertaken this century, is also flabbergasting. The thought that this fool has the power to effectively end life on the planet is truly staggering and incomprehensible.
The timing and announcement of Russia’s recent tests of the Burevestnik missile and Poseidon torpedo were partly in response to Trump’s mockery of the Russian military as a “paper tiger” and partly in response to his cancellation of the Budapest meeting with President Putin, who has also proposed extending the New START treaty for another year while negotiations continue. They were also partly in response to Trump’s “Golden Dome” fantasy. As Putin emphasized, much like he did in his original announcement on March 1, 2018, these systems, like the Oreshnik, which Russia deployed last November, can all circumvent U.S. missile defense. Former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster said the U.S. wouldn’t have a counter to the Oreshnik for at least 15 years. That is probably true for all these systems. It is time for the U.S. and Russia to hold strategic security talks as the world has been demanding.
–Peter Kuznick, Professor of History at American University