UN Demands Halt to Nuclear Tests After Trump Orders Pentagon to Resume

President Donald Trump announced his directive for the U.S. Department of War (Pentagon) to resume nuclear weapons testing, citing that other countries like Russia and China have been conducting similar tests. This announcement, made shortly before a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, sparked international condemnation and raised global concerns about escalating nuclear tensions. The United Nations, led by spokesperson Farhan Haq and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, strongly condemned the move, emphasizing that nuclear testing "can never be permitted under any circumstances" due to its catastrophic legacy from over 2,000 tests conducted in the past 80 years. The UN warned that renewed nuclear tests increase risks of miscalculations and escalation, threatening global security. While it remains unclear if Trump's statement referred to actual explosive nuclear tests or the testing of delivery platforms, the announcement breaks decades of precedent since the U.S. last conducted a nuclear test in 1992. Critics, including Iran and UN officials, labeled the directive as regressive and a threat to international peace, urging restraint and adherence to treaties like the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to prevent nuclear proliferation.