Donald Trump Makes Major Nuclear Weapons Announcement

President Donald Trump said during an Oval Office press conference on Thursday that his administration will discuss denuclearization with Russia and China.

Why It Matters

Shifting toward denuclearization would mark a stark shift in traditional Republican foreign policy. His comments come after several conflicts across the globe, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, have stirred nuclear concerns in the past few years.

What to Know

Trump said during his press conference he would like to lead changes in military spending and denuclearization with China and Russia, longtime U.S. adversaries.

He said that once "things settle down," he plans to meet with China and Russia to discuss how all three countries can reduce their military spending, adding that there is "no reason" for the U.S. to be spending nearly a trillion dollars on the military.

Nuclear de-escalation would also be a priority for him during those discussions, he said

"President Putin and I agreed that we were going to do it in a very big way. There's no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons. We already have so many, you could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons. And they're building new nuclear weapons. And China's trying to catch up," he said.

Those conversations would only happen when things "calm down a little bit," Trump noted.

He said he wanted to achieve denuclearization during his first term, but that "never took place" after the 2020 presidential race.

Just days earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to expand his country's nuclear arsenal, currently comprised of roughly 50 nuclear warheads.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia has the most nuclear weapons of any country at 5,580, followed by the U.S. at 5,044. At 500, China places third.

What People Are Saying

Javed Ali, a professor at the University of Michigan and former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, told Newsweek: "In order to achieve such an outcome, it would likely take a grand bargain involving all three countries unlike any which has existed before, and a stringent verification and monitoring regime in place to ensure none of the parties would clandestinely pursue nuclear weapons research or weapons development that would violate the terms of any such agreement. The complexity, scope, and implications of such an initiative for global security would be unmatched by anything else in recent memory.

"Much like other unconventional foreign policy and national security proposals and ideas from President Trump upon his return to office, the prospect of a denuclearization deal between the United States, Russia, and China would upend decades of US strategic thought on persevering a credible and reliable nuclear deterrence posture based on the "triad" of nuclear-armed weapons able to be launched from the ground, air, and sea. That said, President Trump has shown so far a propensity to start negotiations or dialogues on tough issues with maximalist positions, and then reinforcing his intentions over time and using different policy tools to drive results favorable to his priorities and positions. The degree to which the American public, or members of Congress, will support this particular proposal, is unclear at the moment."

Alistair Burnett, Head of Media for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, told Newsweek: "President Trump has a long track record of talking about nuclear weapons and the threat they pose to humanity. He raised the issue several times during his election campaign last year and several times since he became president he has said he would like to talk to Russia and China about "denuclearisation". We don't have much detail on what President Trump's strategy is, but we want to see him follow through on his talk of denuclearisation and engage Russia, China—and all the other nuclear-armed states—on eliminating nuclear weapons. The best way they could all do that would be to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that came into force in 2021 and half of all countries have already signed or ratified—it is the existing pathway under international law to fair and verifiable disarmament."

What Happens Next

At this point, it's unclear when denuclearization talks may happen, or whether China and Russia would even be willing to consider these discussions.

Update 02/13/25 4:23 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.