President Donald Trump didn’t answer a reporter’s question Thursday about the U.S. resuming nuclear testing, and perhaps it had to do with the company he was keeping. (Watch the video below.)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat across from Trump at a meeting in South Korea, had just finished diplomatic gushing about Trump’s peace-making efforts and got a thanks from the U.S. leader.
But given that Trump had just announced on X before the meeting that the U.S. would restart nuclear weapons testing for the first time in 33 years, claiming in part it was because of China’s testing, the subject came up.
“Mr. President, why did you change your nuclear plans?” a reporter asked. “Why are you gonna be doing more nuclear testing?”
Trump replied, “Thank you very much, everybody. Appreciate it.”
Trump’s nuke declaration was likely timed as a message to Xi before their conference, so perhaps the president figured he had already made his point without fielding the question.
Russian President Vladimir Putin this week declared his country had tested multiple nuclear weapons recently. China is also expanding its arsenal, CNN reported.
On Air Force One later, Trump elaborated on the country’s motives.
“With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” Trump said, noting that the test sites would be decided later.