PSR and IPPNW Condemn the Recent Suggestion of Nuclear Testing by the U.S.

Read the full statement here and below. 30 October, 2025.

On October 29, before a meeting in South Korea with Chinese President Xi, President Donald Trump announced on social media that he “instructed the Department of War to start testing [US] Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis” with Russia and China. The post contains various inaccuracies and it is unclear whether he wants to resume nuclear explosive testing — an act the United States, Russia, and China have not undertaken in over 30 years — or continue nuclear-capable missile testing.  

As physicians and health professionals, we condemn any and all nuclear weapons testing and de-stabilizing posturing. Regardless of intent, President Trump’s statement is a dangerous escalation that threatens global security and undermines decades of disarmament efforts, including the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

More than 2,000 nuclear weapons tests conducted in the 20th Century left behind a legacy of radioactive poison and ecological destruction. Negative health impacts faced by communities living downwind of test sites in Nevada and New Mexico include increased risks of cancer, birth defects, environmental contamination, and more. 

There is no military or technical justification for the U.S. to resume explosive nuclear weapons testing. The only result of these tests would be immense human and environmental harm, poisoning generations to come and increasing the risk of nuclear escalation today. 

We urge the President to clarify his intentions on whether or not he plans to resume explosive nuclear testing. The United States has had a moratorium on nuclear testing for the past 33 years and is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A resumption of U.S. explosive nuclear tests, joining North Korea as the only other nuclear-armed state to do so in the 21st Century, could provoke other nuclear-possessing states to reciprocate.

President Trump noted in the same social media post that he “HATED” modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal in his first term because of the “tremendous destructive power” but claimed he “had no choice”. We know otherwise. President Trump and the leaders of all 9 nuclear armed states have the choice to step back from the brink.

With fewer than 100 days until the expiration of New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between the US and Russia, this reckless posturing threatens to accelerate a new arms race. This is a critical moment for a return to sanity and diplomacy. The only way to prevent a nuclear war is to eliminate nuclear weapons.

We urge the President to maintain the U.S. moratorium on nuclear testing and to open negotiations with Russia, China, and the other nuclear-armed states on steps to reduce the threat of nuclear war, leading to their elimination and joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

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