Hegsett claimed resuming nuclear tests guarantees peace.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsett said Donald Trump’s decision to resume nuclear testing was necessary to bolster the credibility of the US arsenal and would help prevent nuclear war.
He told reporters that the Pentagon would work with the Department of Energy, which is responsible for maintaining nuclear warheads, after Trump announced this week that he would resume testing.
“The president has been clear: We must have a credible nuclear deterrent. That is the basis of our deterrence,” the US defense secretary said during a meeting with Kao Kim Horn, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is hosting the International Defense Leaders’ Conference.
“Understanding the capabilities of nuclear warheads and resuming testing is a very responsible way to do that,” he added.
“I think if you know what you have and make sure it’s working properly, the likelihood of a nuclear conflict is reduced,” he said of the US’s underground nuclear tests, which were halted in 1992.
Hegsett stressed that the Pentagon was moving quickly to implement the president’s directive to resume testing, adding: “We’re not looking for conflict with China or any other country, but the stronger we are, the stronger our alliances are, and the more we grow with our allies in the region and around the world, I think the likelihood of conflict is reduced.”
Trump also said that the decision to resume testing after a 33-year self-imposed pause was due to the resumption of nuclear testing by adversaries. He did not provide any details about the tests.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that if the United States resumes nuclear testing, Moscow would also take action.
Hegst also said in the same context: “The United States will ensure that we have the strongest and most capable nuclear arsenal so that we can establish peace through strength.”
He noted that the Trump administration’s approach to security is “peace through strength,” and the nuclear arsenal is part of this approach.