As the government shutdown surges toward becoming the longest in U.S. history, Senate Democrats are condemning President Donald Trumpâs Wednesday evening declaration that his administration will resume nuclear weapons testing.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday that he had âinstructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,â arguing that Russia and China were conducting their own tests and that America must match their efforts. The president stated that the U.S. already possesses the worldâs largest nuclear arsenal, noting that this, and that the modernization of the weapons, had occurred during his first term.
Democratic Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen issued an emotional rebuke arguing that nuclear testing could possibly bring radioactive âcontaminationâ beyond the desert.
âTrumpâs going to start nuclear testing. Explosive nuclear testing. What happens in Nevada ainât gonnaâ stay there,â Rosen told reporters on Thursday after criticizing Senate Majority Leader John Thune. âThe ground, the air, the water, all across this country, places like Utah, Nebraska, Idaho, keep going. Because the rain falls everywhere, the wind blows everywhere. And that contamination wonât stay isolated.â
Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy pilot, said the U.S. has no need to test our nuclear weapons, and claimed the idea âbenefits the Chinese.â
âWe can model this stuff â we have enough data from hundreds, maybe up to a thousand tests,â Kelly told reporters. âThis benefits the Chinese ⌠we know our systems are reliable. If they start testing again, they could build greater reliability into their strategic forces, all legs of it.â
Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal tied the announcement to Vladimir Putinâs latest missile tests, arguing that Trumpâs rhetoric signals weakness, not deterrence.
âPutin is once again testing us. Donald Trump has shown weakness in the face of the murderous assault in Ukraine, and Putin is testing delivery systems,â Blumenthal told reporters Thursday. âWeâve announced a test of the nuclear warheads. Thereâs an asymmetry. But the move by Putin simply reflects his apparent feeling that he can continue testing and stalling and stonewalling and playing and even mocking the United States.â
Rosen, Kelly and Blumenthal have consistently joined the vast majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus in voting against measures to reopen the government 13 times.
Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said he didnât believe the president was calling for literal detonations.
âI think that was a deterrent rhetoric,â Cramer told reporters on Thursday. âI donât imagine he was talking about above-ground or even underground detonations at this point. Iâm comfortable with why he did it and why he said it.â
âI donât know that he called for a resumption of testing,â Cramer continued. âHe said he can match our enemy.â
Trumpâs directive came just minutes before a much-touted summit with Chinese President XiâJinping, billed as a trade-focused meeting between the worldâs two largest economies.
When asked whether Cramer felt that Trumpâs directive was a strategy going into the meeting, Cramer replied, âIt may have been, and if it was, Iâd say good job.â
China, despite having the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal among the nine nuclear-armed states, according to a 2025 report, has not conducted a nuclear test since 1996. Russia meanwhile has not conducted a nuclear test since 1990.
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