Well, that’s one way to begin a summit, certainly.
Just prior to meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea on Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States is restarting nuclear weapons testing for the first time in 33 years.
While the move was ostensibly spurred on by an announcement that Russia had begun testing on novel undersea nuclear weapons in addition to testing cruise missiles and conducting launch drills, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation noted, the message was loud and clear to Moscow’s most powerful ally: The days of watching America’s enemies play catch-up to our military are over while Trump is in the White House.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” Trump wrote in a post on the Truth Social social media platform.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office,” he said in the post shortly after 10 a.m. South Korea time.
“Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”
And, because Trump is nothing if not a stickler for controlling the narrative, he went on to post, four minutes later, that “THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
Who do you think Xi respects more, Joe Biden or Donald Trump?
The joke being, of course, that the only two economies that really matter in the world are the United States and China. That’s a heck of a carrot to throw Xi Jinping by way of compliment — but then, it came four minutes after Trump announced, oh, by the way, we’re also going to be testing nukes for the first time since 1992.
Whatever the case, the meeting in Busan produced better results than the infamous hissy-fit between President Joe Biden’s administration and top CCP apparatchiks in Anchorage, Alaska in 2021, where the Chinese contingent made it clear their prerogative was “for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world.”
There was none of that talk on Thursday.
This time, Trump and Xi seemed to agree on a wide range of issues, from the lowering of tariffs to lowering trade barriers for U.S. imports into China. Beijing also promised a crack down on fentanyl production and to keep exporting rare earth minerals, Trump told reporters.
“We are going to have a very successful meeting, I have no doubt. But he is a very tough negotiator,” Trump said before the meeting. Afterward, he called it an “amazing meeting.”
“A few days ago … our two economic and trade teams reached basic consensus on addressing our respective major concerns and made encouraging progress … I am ready to continue working with you to build a solid foundation for China-U.S. relations,” Xi said, adding that nothing in China’s plans was meant to interfere with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
However, as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation noted, Xi had extra reason to be cautious — particularly when one the major beneficiaries of his patronage is Vladimir Putin and he’d been put on notice just before the sit-down:
“President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia had successfully tested a Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo that military analysts say is capable of devastating coastal regions by triggering vast radioactive ocean swells.
“As Mr Trump has toughened both his rhetoric and his stance on Russia, Mr Putin has publicly flexed his nuclear muscles with the test of a new Burevestnik cruise missile on October 21 and nuclear launch drills on October 22. …
“It was not immediately clear whether Mr Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Safety Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
Well, as Teddy Roosevelt would have said, speak softly and carry a large, glow-in-the-dark stick. And Trump’s announcement about the U.S. resuming nuclear weapons testing is a very large stick, indeed. The country hasn’t tested a nuclear weapon since 1992, according to NBC News.
If you think that made a few people nervous in Beijing or Moscow, just think about the Washington, D.C., left.
Now the Democrats are pining for the days — hours ago, really — where the East Wing of the White House was their primary concern.
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