Is the United States about to start testing nuclear weapons again? Recent comments by United States President Trump suggested that he is strongly considering testing nuclear warheads in response to real and perceived tests by other nuclear powers.

These comments left many confused about the future of US policy and the state of intelligence on adversary nuclear programs.

So what’s going on? As is often the case, President Trump seems to prize unpredictability.

We don’t know what’s going to happen, but it wouldn’t hurt to review where we’ve been.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      He is literally just saying shit and trying to come up with big displays of big-manliness and kaboom power. It’s all he has and it actually works at keeping his base distracted and enthusiastic as he bleeds them dry.

      Will we see a return to expensive and internationally condemned above-ground testing? Probably not, but for the length of the news cycle about it, his base will cheer and go “OORAH YAH! BLOW SHIT UP! BLOW ME UP HARDER DADDY!”

  • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 days ago

    I read an article a while ago that said that nuclear weapons tests (yes, only the tests) caused 10 million people worldwide to die from cancer. This is solely due to the radioactive fallout from the tests. This does not include any weapons actually hitting cities or living people directly.

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      That was above ground testing, which ended in the 60s from the US. France did it until 1974, and China until 1980.

      True story, the US military knew the safest place to test nuclear bombs was the East coast, to let prevailing winds take fallout to the ocean but they did it in the west anyway, poisoning their own population. We can still measure radioactivity in brain samples from that era today.

      • MourningDove@lemmy.zip
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        3 days ago

        No, it’s not. It’s that he’s a pedophile that doesn’t want to be caught. It’s a distraction. As is the “drug boat” murders, and all the other violations of constitutional law.

        • w3dd1e@lemmy.zip
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          3 days ago

          It’s both but also he’s a fucking child who thinks war is cool. He tells stories like my toddler niece.

  • MourningDove@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    Really? Ya think maybe it might have to do with distracting us from finding out he’s a fucking pedophile?

    It’s not like we don’t know about his flood the zone bullshit. He does it every day. He’s trolling an entire country as a distraction.

    My god when did journalism get so fucking stupid?

  • 20cello@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    May be related to the release of some compromising files for Trump, I think I’ve heard someone called them Epsom or Upstin files idk

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Every distraction is a distraction for something else. This is the point, keep everyone going in circles until people just tune out and his administration can gut the federal budget and carry out bags of cash out the back door without the population even caring anymore.

  • Aeao@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    I feel like you could follow every headline about trump with “and no one knows why”

    It’s practically implied at this point

  • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    Its because he has dementia and he thinks we’re still in the cold war and he’s loyal to Russia for all the loans they gave him.

  • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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    3 days ago

    Russia is desperate so started making noise about testing some missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. They like making noise about nukes in general because their conventional forces are failing at taking over Ukraine. Promoting fear of nuclear war is a card they play often, it’s easier to list the months Russia hasn’t made nuke threats in the last three years than the months they haven’t.

    Trump is an idiot and didn’t understand the distinction between testing nuclear capable missiles and testing actual nuclear weapons. He doesn’t understand the Putin is weak now and the noise he’s making is a sign of that weakness and instead thinks it’s a sign of strength. Trump likes to copy Putin and is too stupid not to understand the distinction between a missile test and a nuclear weapons test, so started talking about doing nuclear weapons tests.

    His administration is full of idiots that are only there because they are loyal to him and so they didn’t explain it to him. When a reporter explained the distinction between nuclear capable missile and actual nuclear weapons, since Trump is incapable of admitting he’s wrong about anything he insisted that Russia and China are testing nuclear weapons. But he’s the only one in the world that knows about it apparently.

    Now it’s a weird situation where Trump’s sycophants probably know it’s stupid to do, but they aren’t going to question dear leader’s orders. But that doesn’t mean it will happen since they may be too incompetent to be able to do such a test. I’m not sure if they know it’s actually the Department of Energy that does nuclear testing not the Department of Defense War that do them. The facilities to do them have been repurposed so there would need to be some work done to make it possible even if they figure out which department does them.

    There’s a significant likelihood that Trump gets distracted be something else before the administration can figure out how to do it. But if it continues to be a controversy then he’ll stick with it, since distracting from the Epstein files and various other corruption is the top priority.

  • evenglow@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    It’s because removing the filibuster is called the nuclear option.

    Yup, global super power in 2025 folks.

    • gdog05@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I hate to admit that you might be onto something. This is just like him thinking that “asylum” in regards to immigrants means mental institution.