Ahead of a critical Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump announced that the U.S. would revive nuclear weapons testing, something the nation hasn’t done since 1992.

Let the IFA community know how to pray for you.

View Comments (5)

From Fox News:

The president announced, just before his high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he is instructing the Pentagon to start testing nuclear weapons on an “equal basis” as Russia and China, and that the process for testing these weapons would begin immediately.

“They seem to all be nuclear testing,” Trump later told reporters on Air Force One. “We don’t do testing — we halted it years ago. But with others doing testing, it’s appropriate that we do also.”

It’s unclear exactly what Trump meant, since no country has conducted a known nuclear test since North Korea in 2017. The last known tests for China and Russia date back to the 1990s, when Russia was still the Soviet Union.

Fox notes that, though neither Russia nor China have conducted known nuclear tests since the 90s, experts say the President “may have been referring to ramping up testing of nuclear-powered weapons systems or conducting covert, low-yield nuclear weapons testing.” It is also possible that he simply knows about tests that have not been made public to the general population.

Nuclear explosions of any kind, including for testing reasons, is banned under 1996’s Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. However, Fox notes that the U.S. has detailed in multiple reports that is suspects Russia and China are performing tests in spite of the ban.

Vice President Vance sought to dispel fears about nuclear testing, clarifying it’s purpose would be to “make sure that this nuclear arsenal we have actually functions properly.” He called this testing an “important part of American national security.”

President Trump once again testing nuclear weapons could cause fear and panic across the globe, especially among our allies. As our nation once again begins testing it’s nuclear arsenal, let’s pray for peace. Most importantly, let’s pray for the protection of America and its national security!

What do you think of President Trump’s push to resume nuclear testing? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)