King Questions Strategic Command Nominee on President’s Missile Test Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), in a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), today questioned Vice Admiral Richard Correll, nominee for the rank of Navy Admiral and to serve as Commander of United States Strategic Command, on whether foreign adversaries Russia and China are in the process of testing nuclear weapons. The hearing comes the morning after President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to immediately resume nuclear weapons testing through a late night announcement on the social media platform Truth Social. During the exchange with Senator King, Vice Admiral Correll confirmed neither country is currently testing nuclear weapons.

Senator King began," We have been talking about this phrase the president used yesterday - I feel like we're doing Talmudic analysis here of the words - 'Because of other countries' testing programs, I've instructed the Department of War - Department of Defense - to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis.' Are any other countries doing explosive testing of nuclear warheads?"

"Senator, I want to thank you for the time in your office. I really appreciated your time and the conversation. To my knowledge, the explosive testing, the last explosive nuclear testing was by North Korea, or DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), and that was in 2017 to be publicly confirmed," replied Vice Admiral Correll.

"But Russia and China have not done explosives that we know of, is that correct," asked Senator King.

"No, for China, the last publicly acknowledged test was in 1996," replied Vice Admiral Correll.

"He then goes on, 'This process will begin immediately.' I'm sorry, 'We are testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis.' It could be that what he is talking about is delivery systems. Is that not correct? Just recently we learned about the new Sky Fall Russian missile. Is that a reasonable interpretation of what he is saying, rather than explosive testing of weapons," questioned Senator King.

"I don't have insight into the president's intent. I agree that could be an interpretation," responded Vice Admiral Correll.

Senator King concluded, "We hope that is clarified in the coming days."

The last time the United States tested a nuclear weapon was 33 years ago in a 1992 test in Nevada, which is still operated today by the U.S. government but not currently authorized for nuclear weapons testing. In the past two weeks, Russia has confirmed testing of a nuclear-powered cruise missile, held a nuclear readiness drill and tested a nuclear-powered autonomous torpedo - but a nuclear weapon itself has not been tested. Over the past five years, Chinese President Xi Jinping has roughly doubled China's nuclear warhead arsenal, but also has not initiated active testing.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King is recognized as an authoritative voice on national security and foreign policy issues. Senator King co-leads the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, where he provides oversight on nuclear enterprise and missile defense. The subcommittee provides oversight to ensure the country has a safe, secure, effective, and credible nuclear force. He has previously spoken up about the emerging threats of Russia and China's development of "nightmare weapon" hypersonic missiles and the need to protect against terrorists obtaining a nuclear weapon. Senator King has been a steady voice on the need to address the growing nuclear capacity of our adversaries. He remains committed to a safe and reliable nuclear stockpile and the longstanding policy and treaty that bans atmospheric, underground, underwater, and exoatmospheric (or high-altitude) explosive testing of nuclear weapons.

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