Front and Center: November 23, 2025

TRUMP’S AMBIGUOUS NUCLEAR TESTING REMARKS SPARK CONFUSION, ALARM

Last month, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he had ordered the Department of Defense to resume nuclear testing “on an equal basis” to other countries. Since then, he has doubled down on these comments even as his own administration officials have tried to walk them back. 

There are a few important things to note: first, that it is unclear whether Trump was talking about explosive nuclear testing — which no country except North Korea has done since the 1990s — or delivery systems testing, which the United States and other countries do often.

Second, it is the Department of Energy through the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), not the Department of Defense, that would conduct such tests. The United States maintains a clear technological advantage precisely because it does not conduct explosive nuclear tests; the Stockpile Stewardship Program allows officials to certify each year that U.S. weapons are in working condition. As Senior Policy Director John Erath explains in a Nukes of Hazard blog post from 2023 after visiting the national test site in Nevada, “the entire nuclear weapons program, including the current modernization, has been specifically designed so as not to require further (explosive) testing.” Further, the infrastructure to conduct such tests would take several years to build. CNN reported last week that officials from the Department of Energy and NNSA planned to meet with top White House officials to dissuade them from resuming explosive nuclear testing and describes confusion at the NNSA about the President’s initial social media post.

Third, the United States has still not adequately recognized or compensated all of the victims of its decades of explosive nuclear weapons testing and other nuclear weapons activities during the Cold War — primarily living in the Western United States.

Finally, if the United States were to resume explosive nuclear testing, countries including Russia have already said they would do the same, essentially renewing an unnecessary and dangerous Cold War-era arms race. In a piece published in Just Security in April, Research Analyst Shawn Rostker explains why resuming explosive nuclear testing is a bad idea, especially for the United States.

Since the President’s confusing and alarming social media post at the end of October, several Members of Congress — including those from Nevada, the state that would be most impacted — have introduced legislation that would block or restrict explosive nuclear weapons testing. Rep. Dina Titus (NV-03) introduced H.R. 5894, the Renewing Efforts to Suspend Testing and Reinforce Arms Control Initiatives Now (RESTRAIN) Act to prohibit the United States from conducting explosive nuclear weapons tests. Five Senators from Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona introduced S. 3106, the No Nuclear Testing Without Approval Act, which would require Congressional approval for resumption of explosive nuclear tests and ensure any administration engages with the state in which such a test would be conducted. Two Nevada Representatives introduced the House companion, H.R. 5951. Finally, Sen. Ed Markey introduced S. 3090, the No Nuclear Testing Act of 2025, which complements the other bills and would prohibit funding for any explosive nuclear weapons test for one fiscal year.

We are hard at work on Capitol Hill raising awareness of these bills and ensuring every Member of Congress understands the dangers of explosive nuclear testing.

More from our experts: Senior Policy Director John Erath explains the ways the United States currently tests nuclear capabilities to Defense News | Watch: Erath explains why explosive testing is unnecessary

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN ‘PEACE PLAN’ WOULD AMOUNT TO SURRENDER 

President Donald Trump has just approved a 28-point “peace plan” for Russia and Ukraine that administration officials worked on over the past few weeks. Ukraine was not asked to provide input but was made aware of the plan’s framework, Ukrainian and European sources have said. 

The plan requires Ukraine to make territorial concessions, includes economic components like some frozen Russian assets going to rebuild Ukraine, lifts Russian sanctions, calls for a long-term partnership between Russia and the United States on artificial intelligence and other areas and allows Russia to return to the G8, among other things. It also limits the size of Ukraine’s military and forbids further NATO enlargement.

The draft that was made public also calls for continuation of the START I Treaty, possibly a typo as that agreement expired in 2009.  The intention may have been to extend the numerical limits of the New START Treaty, but it is difficult to be sure.

This plan puts Ukraine in a difficult position, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video addressed to his people: “Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” he said.

The peace plan looks like equal parts a rehash of the Gaza plan and Putin’s Christmas list. It would be difficult to implement as it violates a number of existing treaties and national constitutions. Although attention to arms control as New START expires may be a welcome development, it is difficult to imagine Ukraine giving any plan that is tantamount to surrender much consideration unless its army were on the brink of collapse. This plan comes on the heels of a Russian attack days ago that left Ukraine weaker militarily than it has been in a long time. However, today Ukraine has struck back by launching a drone attack against a heat and power station in the Moscow region.

Officials from Ukraine, the United States and other European countries are meeting in Geneva today to discuss the drafted peace plan. The situation is rapidly changing and we will provide analysis as often as possible.

CHINA INSISTS IT WILL NOT RESUME EXPLOSIVE NUCLEAR TESTING EVEN AS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS CONTINUE TO EXPAND 

In early November, and in response to remarks made by President Donald Trump about the possibility of the United States resuming explosive nuclear testing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons insisted that Beijing had no intention of resuming testing and urged the United States to maintain its own self-imposed moratorium. However, there are concerns about China’s transparency regarding its testing ambitions, with reporting detailing expansion efforts at China’s primary nuclear testing site in recent years. 

Adding to the suspense surrounding China’s growing nuclear ambitions, recent reports have suggested that Beijing continues efforts to add to its naval capabilities with a potential nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

SOUTH KOREA PROPOSES A NEW ROUND OF TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA AFTER MISSILE LAUNCHES 

On November 8, Pyongyang issued a sharp warning to Washington following the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in South Korea, signaling that the visit would trigger offensive action unless the United States halted its provocative military moves. The statement echoed North Korea’s longstanding objections to the U.S. military presence in the region, which it sees as an existential threat to its security. This posturing followed a missile test on October 21, in which North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the east, marking the regime’s latest attempt to maintain pressure on both Seoul and Washington. 

In response to the missile launches and ongoing tensions, South Korea proposed a new round of talks with North Korea on November 17, offering discussions on military demarcation lines in an effort to ease hostilities. North Korea has thus far dismissed South Korean overtures. Additionally, North Korea reacted sharply to a joint U.S.–ROK fact sheet detailing their October summit and the United States’ approval for South Korea to build nuclear-powered attack submarines.

IRAN SAYS IT’S NO LONGER ENRICHING URANIUM ANYWHERE BUT U.N. WANTS MORE 

Perceived as a signal to the West of Iran’s willingness to potential negotiations, Iran’s foreign minister said last week that Tehran is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, although Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi maintained that any future negotiations must respect Iran’s right to peaceful enrichment for the use of nuclear technology. However, in a November 20 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors, the U.N. watchdog voted for a resolution demanding that “Iran fully cooperate with the agency and provide ‘precise information’ about its stockpile of enriched uranium, as well as grant its inspectors access to Iranian nuclear sites.” Following the meeting, Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA denounced the resolution.

UNITED STATES TO SELL F-35s TO SAUDI ARABIA

Last Tuesday, President Trump announced the intended sale of advanced F-35 jet fighters to Saudi Arabia ahead of his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Saudi Arabia would join Israel as the only countries in the Middle East to obtain F-35s, shifting the military balance in the region and softening Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge. Some have raised fears that this sale would “give Saudi Arabia access to sensitive stealth technology, which the country could then share with China under a security partnership between the two powers.” Some versions of the F35 are also capable of delivering nuclear weapons

CONGRESS FORGES AHEAD ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING 

The government reopened on November 12 after a small group of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to end the shutdown. However, this is just a temporary fix as the current continuing resolution will expire on January 30. As a result, Senators are seeking to move government funding legislation to hopefully pass more bills before another potential shutdown. Three bills covering agriculture, military construction and veterans’ affairs and the legislative branch were enacted as part of the continuing resolution. 

The road ahead on government funding remains rocky including because Republican leadership in the House and Senate are not on the same page. Healthcare will remain a major sticking point in the coming weeks, as will the overall spending numbers. The Senate has proposed a much higher spending number than the House. Speaker Mike Johnson claims to want to pass all nine remaining bills before the January 30 deadline.

DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL ON TRACK FOR FLOOR VOTE 

The House may proceed to a vote on a compromise fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) early in December in an attempt to stave off an end-of-year vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also named the NDAA as a top priority for the Senate in December. One of the key differences between the House and Senate versions that remains unresolved is the overall spending limit. The Senate proposed $32 billion more than the House, which stuck to the Trump administration’s total. It is important to remember that the Pentagon received more than $100 billion in additional funds via the reconciliation bill Congress passed earlier this year. 

To read more about what’s in the House and Senate versions from a nuclear weapons perspective check out the Center’s analyses of the House and Senate committee-passed NDAAs.

BASIC “GOLDEN DOME” ARCHITECTURE FINALIZED 

According to reporting from Inside Defense, the Department of Defense completed the basic architecture for President Donald Trump’s so-called “Golden Dome” missile defense system. This would be a major step in the accelerated timeline the Pentagon is using to implement the extremely ambitious plan. Details are not public, but the system will include interceptors, satellites and fire-control networks with the goal of countering any missile threat to the U.S. homeland.

The administration has predicted a suspiciously low $175 billion price tag for the system. Policy experts across the ideological spectrum have put the real price tag at multiple trillion dollars. Congress appropriated $25 billion for Golden Dome as part of the reconciliation legislation, including $5.6 billion for space-based interceptors.

The next step for the Pentagon will be an implementation plan.

WHAT ELSE: PRESIDENT EISENHOWER AND ‘A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE,’ TACTICAL NUKES AND MINNESOTA HYPERSONICS 

Emails between University officials reveal efforts to downplay military applications of hypersonics: Research Analyst Shawn Rostker spoke with The Minnesota Daily, the newspaper of the University of Minnesota, about hypersonic weapons as the paper sought to investigate the university’s relationship to a potential hypersonic arms race.

A House of Dynamite, Eisenhower and Lessons for Non-Proliferation: In Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear thriller A House of Dynamite, allusions to President Dwight Eisenhower are present throughout, writes Policy Intern Julia Cooper. This must be intentional, Cooper writes, as many of the warnings Eisenhower offered in his presidency unfortunately still ring true today.

Why ‘Tactical’ Nuclear Weapons Are Anything But ‘Usable’: Policy Intern Julia Cooper questions why Russia continues to imply a willingness to use tactical nuclear weapons if they do not have a military or political value.

Reflections On My Fall Internship: Julia Cooper: Policy Intern Julia Cooper reflects on her experience working at the Center, her long-held interest in nuclear non-proliferation advocacy and how to retain hope in this field.

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