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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: New tests of the US nuclear weapons system ordered up by President Donald Trump will not include nuclear explosions, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday.
It was the first clarity from the Trump administration since the president took to social media last week to say he had “instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.”
“I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests,” Wright said in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing.” “These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions.”
Wright, whose agency is responsible for testing, added that the planned testing involves “all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry and they set up the nuclear explosion.”
The confusion over Trump’s intention started minutes before he held a critical meeting in South Korea with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump took to his Truth Social platform and appeared to suggest he was preparing to discard a decades-old US prohibition on testing the nation’s nuclear weapons.
Later that day, as he made his way back to Washington, Trump was coy on whether he really meant to say he was ordering the resumption of explosive testing of nuclear weapons — something only North Korea has undertaken this century — or calling for the testing of US systems that could deliver a nuclear weapon, which is far more routine.
He remained opaque on Friday when asked by reporters about whether he intended to resume underground nuclear detonation tests.
“You’ll find out very soon,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, as he headed to Florida for a weekend stay.
The US military regularly tests its missiles that are capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, but it has not detonated the weapons since 1992. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the US signed but did not ratify, has been observed since its adoption by all countries possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea being the only exception.
Trump announced his plans for nuclear tests after Russia announced it had tested a new atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone and a new nuclear-powered cruise missile.
Russia responded to Trump’s nuclear testing comments by underscoring that it did not test its nuclear weapons and has abided by a global ban on nuclear testing.
The Kremlin warned though, that if the US resumes testing its weapons, Russia will as well — an intensification that would restart Cold War-era tensions.

WEST PALM BEACH, United States: Aggressive US immigration raids which have sparked protests and allegations of rights violations have not gone far enough, President Donald Trump said in a CBS interview released Sunday.
Trump was interviewed Friday by CBS’s “60 Minutes” program, his first sit-down with the broadcaster since it agreed to a $16 million settlement with him.
The Republican president had sued the Paramount-owned organization over a 2024 pre-election interview with his Democratic opponent, former vice president Kamala Harris.
Asked by interviewer Norah O’Donnell if raids conducted by his Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have “gone too far,” the 79-year-old president replied: “I think they haven’t gone far enough.”
He claimed “liberal judges” appointed by Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden had “held back” immigration operations, according to the interview extract posted on X.
O’Donnell noted documented instances of ICE agents tackling suspected immigrants, deploying tear gas in neighborhoods and smashing open car windows.
“You’re okay with those tactics?” she asked.
“Yeah, because you have to get the people out,” Trump said.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has pushed for a massive wave of deportations, a hallmark of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Protests sparked by increased ICE raids have caused unrest across the country, particularly in Democratic-led cities where Trump’s administration has launched “surges” of agents.
Trump has sought to deploy National Guard troops to back up the agents and protect immigration facilities in the cities, sparking lawsuits from local officials claiming he has overstepped his authority.
His administration has deployed troops in Los Angeles, while similar efforts in Portland and Chicago have been temporarily blocked by federal courts.