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President Donald Trump stunned the world this week by ordering the Pentagon to resume U.S. nuclear weapons testing “immediately,” a hardline move he announced on social media as he traveled to Asia for high-stakes diplomacy. The abrupt directive—framed as necessary to keep pace with Russia and China—represents a decisive break from decades of timid, appeasement-minded policy in Washington.
To be clear, the United States has observed a voluntary moratorium on explosive nuclear testing since 1992, a policy that was born from the post-Cold War consensus and the misbegotten belief that weakness would be rewarded. Mr. Trump’s order acknowledges a harder truth: adversaries are not honoring the spirit of nonproliferation while expecting us to stay idle.
Patriots should welcome an administration that puts American security first rather than bowing to empty global lectures. President Trump pointed to recent Russian advances and China’s rapid arsenal expansion as the rationale for restoring testing parity—a realistic, tough-minded assessment that the career diplomats and think-tank pacifists refuse to accept.
Conservative lawmakers who actually think about deterrence—not virtue-signaling—have been warning about readiness for years; Senator Tom Cotton famously pushed to fund test readiness in the defense bill, and Congress has already debated measures to keep the option on the table. If Democrats and the chattering classes want to complain, let them explain how surrendering technological advantage keeps America safe.
Predictably, the usual suspects in Washington and abroad are shrieking about a new arms race, but those warnings often ignore the strategic reality that deterrence depends on credibility, not kumbaya rhetoric. The president is not reckless for asserting American strength; he is doing what leaders are supposed to do—protect our people and ensure our adversaries understand the costs of aggression.
Some opponents have seized on the president’s colorful reference to the “Department of War” to mock the decision, but those critics reveal their own weakness: while they quibble over words, our enemies keep building weapons. The point is simple—Americans deserve a commander-in-chief who will face down threats and restore deterrence, not one who hides behind process and permits strategic erosion.
This is a moment for conservatives to stand tall and demand clarity and strength from our institutions—rigorous testing when necessary, robust oversight from Congress, and a refusal to be bullied by Beijing or Moscow. If the choice is between preserving American power and indulging international pretense, hardworking Americans know which side they’re on: peace through strength, and no apologies for defending this nation.
