Trump says Pakistan conducting nuclear tests, justifies US testing order

US President Donald Trump has said Pakistan, along with other countries, is actively testing nuclear weapons, arguing that this justifies his order to the Department of War to resume testing of nuclear weapons.

'We are different'

Speaking to CBS News, the US president said that apart from Pakistan, China, Russia, and North Korea are testing their nuclear weapons, adding that this makes it “appropriate” that the US also does the same.

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"Russia's testing and China's testing, but they don't talk about it. We're an open society. We're different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it because otherwise you people are going to report. They don't have reporters that are going to be writing about it," said Trump, according to NDTV.

"We're going to test because they test and others test. And certainly North Korea's been testing. Pakistan's been testing," added Trump.

‘Unaware of exact location’

However, Trump said that his administration does not exactly know where these nuclear tests are being conducted, even though he claimed that the tests were indeed taking place.

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Elaborating further, the Republican said that tests are conducted deep underground and people only feel a mild vibration.

"They-- they test way under-- underground where people don't know exactly what's happening with the test. You feel a little bit of a vibration. They test, and we don't test. We have to test," said Trump.

On Putin’s nuclear test announcement

Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent announcement of Moscow testing its nuclear-powered systems, including its Poseidon underwater drone, Trump said that he does not want the US to be the only country that does not conduct nuclear tests.

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"You have to see how they work. The reason I'm saying testing is that Russia announced that they were going to be doing a test. If you notice, North Korea is testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We're the only country that doesn't test. And I don't want to be the only country that doesn't test," said Trump.

The US president further stated that his country possesses enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world 150 times, adding that in terms of sheer number, it would be the highest in the world.

No nuclear explosions: US energy secy

However, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright clarified that the testing of nuclear weapons by his country will not involve nuclear explosions, adding that the tests would only involve “non-critical explosions.”

Speaking to Fox News, Wright said that the testing will involve that the testing involves all other parts of a nuclear weapon that set up the nuclear blast, adding that the tests will be conducted on new systems to ensure they function better than the older ones.