Trump says America should denuclearize and there is no need to build nuclear weapons because Russia is not a threat

President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that he aims to reopen nuclear arms control discussions with Russia and China, expressing hope that all three nations could eventually agree to slash their massive defense expenditures by half.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump criticized the enormous sums being funneled into strengthening the U.S. nuclear arsenal. He voiced his intention to secure commitments from rival nations to scale back their own military spending.

“There’s no need for us to keep producing brand-new nuclear weapons—we already have more than enough,” Trump remarked. “You could wipe out the world 50 times over, even 100 times over. Yet, we continue making more nuclear weapons, and so are they.”

“We’re all pouring billions into something that could be better spent on things that are, hopefully, much more beneficial,” he added.

While the U.S. and Russia have maintained vast stockpiles since the Cold War, Trump predicted that China would achieve nuclear parity “within five or six years.”

If these weapons were ever deployed, he warned, “that’s going to be complete oblivion.”

Trump said he plans to engage in nuclear negotiations with both countries once conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are stabilized.

“One of the first discussions I want to have is with President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia. I want to propose, ‘Let’s cut our military budgets in half.’ And I believe we can do that. I truly think it’s possible,” he said.

During his first term, Trump attempted to involve China in nuclear arms reduction talks as the U.S. and Russia negotiated an extension of the New START treaty, but his efforts fell short.

Russia later withdrew from the treaty under the Biden administration, while both the U.S. and Russia continued investing in modernizing or replacing their aging nuclear stockpiles.

China has repeatedly rejected U.S. invitations to join nuclear arms negotiations, insisting that Washington and Moscow must first scale down their much larger arsenals. A Chinese government official reaffirmed this stance on Friday.

“The U.S. and Russia should make significant reductions to their nuclear stockpiles before expecting other nuclear-armed nations to participate in disarmament talks,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated at a daily briefing in Beijing.

Sources -

 https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2025/02/13/trump-wants-nuclear-arms-talks-with-russia-and-china/

https://www.stimson.org/2024/americas-nuclear-weapons-quagmire/

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/us-nuclear-arsenal-can-deter-both-china-and-russia