Top energy and nuclear officials in the Trump administration are reportedly planning to meet with the White House and National Security Council in the coming days to dissuade President Donald Trump from resuming testing of the nation’s nuclear weapons, sources told CNN on Nov. 14. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration Brandon M. Williams, and officials from the U.S. National Laboratories are planning to inform the White House that they do not think blowing up weapons for nuclear warhead testing, as Trump suggested last month, is tenable, two sources “familiar with the matter” said.
Energy Department spokesman Ben Dietderich pushed back on the idea that agency officials would be dissuading the White House from resuming testing. “The Trump administration continues to explore all options as it moves to expand nuclear testing on an equal basis with other nations,” Dietderich said in a statement.
So far, CNN claims, Trump’s comments haven’t changed agency policy: No plans are underway for exploding nuclear weapons for testing purposes. One source told CNN that no one in the administration has explained to those in the agency what exactly Trump meant by his comments. Sources told CNN that it would take 36 months or more to resume nuclear explosive testing, and that the “big resistance” from the Nevada state government would have to be overcome.
