As the U.S. presidential race intensifies for the White House, and with the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential alternative to President Joe Biden, Donald Trump's campaign is preparing alternative plans. Trump's allies are operating on all fronts; the former president's campaign is gearing up to face Harris if she enters the electoral fray, while others have begun discussing U.S. nuclear capabilities. According to a report by the New York Times, Trump's allies are advocating that Washington should conduct tests of American nuclear weapons if he wins another presidential term.
These proposals, which may receive support, are rejected by several nuclear experts, who point out that such action could nullify the "voluntary nuclear testing moratorium" that major nuclear powers have adhered to for decades. Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security advisor, wrote in Foreign Affairs that "Washington should test new nuclear weapons to ensure their reliability and safety in the real world for the first time since 1992." O’Brien urged Trump, if he wins a new presidential term, to carry out these nuclear tests to help maintain technical and numerical superiority over the combined Chinese and Russian nuclear stockpiles. The Biden administration and other Democrats have warned that such nuclear tests could lead to a series of international reactions, which in turn could reignite the nuclear arms race and "increase the risk of war."
