CIA director, Senate intel chairman say Trump ‘is right’ about Russian and Chinese nuclear tests

President Trump’s claims that Russia and China are secretly testing nuclear weapons are correct, according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton. 

“@realDonaldTrump is right,” Ratcliffe wrote on X Monday, sharing intelligence assessments dating back to the president’s first term, suggesting Russia and China were not adhering to a moratorium on the testing of nuclear explosives. 

Cotton (R-Ark.), in a subsequent X post, provided a bit more detail about what specifically the US adversaries have been testing after conferring with the spy chief. 

“After consultations with Director Ratcliffe and his team, they have confirmed to me that the CIA assesses that both Russia and China have conducted super-critical nuclear weapons tests in excess of the U.S. zero-yield standard,” the senator wrote. 

“These tests are not historic and are part of their nuclear modernization programs,” he added. 

Trump announced last week that he had ordered the Pentagon to “immediately” begin testing nuclear weapons for the first time in more than three decades to counter the growing arsenals and alleged testing programs of Russia and China. 

“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last Wednesday. “That process will begin immediately.”

Trump elaborated in an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday. 

“The testing is because Russia announced that they were doing a test. If you notice, North Korea is testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We’re the only country that doesn’t test, and I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test,” the president said. 

When CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell pushed back, Trump asserted: “Russia is testing nuclear weapons, and China is testing them too, you just don’t know about it.” 

The US has not tested a nuclear explosive since 1992, observing a voluntary moratorium on the practice.

The last US nuclear test was an underground detonation that took place at the US military’s Nevada Test Site. 

Trump has not specified what type of testing – above or underground – the military might carry out or how soon it could take place.