Trump allies are peddling a catastrophic idea for U.S. nuclear weapon policy

[Eugene]

Source: MSNBC

Trump allies are peddling a catastrophic idea for U.S. nuclear weapon policy

Resuming live testing could spark an arms race and will reduce American security.

July 6, 2024, 6:00 AM EDT
By Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor

Allies and former advisers to former President Donald Trump are arguing that the U.S., for the first time in decades, should resume nuclear testing. They say it’ll advance American safety by ensuring that the U.S. has a decisive military and technological advantage over other nuclear powers. In reality, the U.S. — and the world — would be made more dangerous by the kind of arms race this could spark. And it seems plausible that if Trump were to win the White House he could adopt the policy because of the manner in which it aligns with the unilateral militance of the “America First” worldview.

Influential figures in Trump's orbit are pushing the idea of breaking long-held norms and resuming live nuclear testing. Former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien wrote in Foreign Affairs in June that “Washington must test new nuclear weapons for reliability and safety in the real world for the first time since 1992” in order to maintain technical superiority over China and Russia. Christian Whiton, who served as a State Department adviser to President George W. Bush and Trump, told The New York Times that “it would be negligent to field nuclear weapons of novel designs that we have never tested in the real world.” And the Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank that’s backing Project 2025, widely considered a policy blueprint for Trump’s second term, is proposing that the federal government expand its capacity for immediate nuclear testing.

Since 1992, the U.S. has refrained from explosive nuclear testing and opted for other techniques, including expert appraisals and sophisticated modeling generated by supercomputers, to calculate the efficacy of its long-term stockpile and its newer weapons. That policy has helped nudge other countries away from pursuing live testing. Most countries don’t conduct live tests of nuclear warheads in adherence to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Multiple nuclear proliferation experts say that if the U.S. resumes explosive testing, other countries will have more incentive to do so. ...

-snip-

Read more: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-nuclear-policy-election-rcna160459

[sop]

1. The article doesn't mention how much live testing would cost and who would profit.

I suspect "Trump allies" are heavily invested in the project.

[LymphocyteLover]

3. not sure how much of an issue the cost and profit is, but any tests will be very damaging to whatever site they use

IMO mostly it's a chance for these big tough guys to show off and wreak havoc

[slightlv]

2. Men love things that go "bang"

and, while still hearing all the M-80's going off in this neighborhood, four days after the 4th, the bigger the "bang" the better. And yes, driving or walking around the neighborhood, it is boys and men that are doing this. Women are absent (and probably in the house!). Trump is the epitome of the stupid male who likes things that go "bang", whether it's policies are real ammunition. As often as he's mentioned "nuking" this or that country (or hurricane), I don't think we should be at all surprised if one of the first things he does in his new term is blow up the biggest bombs this country has to offer -- including nukes. He's as dumb as the father who put a lit firework on his head. The only thing is, trump probably won't die from doing it... he'll only kill someone else and start WWIII. He won't be happy until he gets all the glory possible for a president to have... or simply as a "guy."