Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that the United States is not seeking conflict with any nation as it is only discussing its “peace through strength” policy, while saying America will ensure it has a strong and advanced nuclear arsenal.
Hegseth spoke to defense ministers in Malaysia during a meeting held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. Asked about the nuclear tests the Pentagon could handle, he provided limited information. However, he appeared to indicate to reporters that the aim was to test the warheads, noting that “resuming testing” would be “quite responsible”.
“We would work with the Department of Energy, but the president made that clear. We need to have a credible nuclear deterrent that is the baseline of our deterrence, and so understanding and resuming testing is a pretty responsible, very responsible way to do that. I think it reduces the likelihood of a nuclear conflict, if you know what you have, make sure it’s working properly, so that’s the right directive,” Hegseth said, according to Russia Today.
He went on to say, “We’re moving fast and America is going to make sure we have the strongest and most capable nuclear arsenal to keep peace by force, that’s what we talk about in every meeting, peace by force, we’re not seeking conflict with China or any other nation, but the stronger we are, the stronger our alliances are, the more we work with allies in this region around the world, which I think is the least likely part of this world.”
‘You’ll find out very soon’: Trump on plans to resume nuclear weapons tests
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Friday refused to confirm whether he intended to resume underground nuclear detonation tests, despite appearing to suggest in a social media post earlier this week that the US could conduct nuclear tests for the first time in 30 years.
Asked if he planned to restart underground nuclear tests, the president told reporters, “You’ll find out very soon,” without giving further details, according to the AP.
“We’re going to do some tests” and “Other countries are going to do it. If they do it, we’re going to do it,” he said aboard Air Force One while en route to Florida for a weekend getaway.
