US President Donald Trump said Washington is discussing denuclearisation with China and Russia, saying he hopes the world’s three major nuclear powers can scale back their nuclear arsenals.
“It’s a shame all together because I would love to denuclearize if possible, but we are talking to Russia about that. We are talking to China about that denuclearisation,” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax published Thursday, a day after Reuters reported on the comments.
Trump said he anticipates China will “catch up” with the US in nuclear capabilities within the next five years. Newsmax reported that Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping over denuclearisation.
Russia maintains the largest inventory of stored nuclear warheads, with the United States and China next, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. However, the United States has a greater number of warheads that are actively deployed than Russia.
The statements come several months after New START, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, expired in February 2026. The 2010 treaty signed by Washington and Moscow set limits on both countries’ number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems.
An extension of any sort would, of course, need to be decided by a new executive decision. How to replace the expiry has been the subject of anxieties over the fate of nuclear arms control in an era of continuing rivalry between the great powers.
There were no details about the reported discussions or an indication of how soon any agreement might be reached.
