Trump claims Pakistan among countries testing nuclear weapons

US president does not rule out Nigeria military operation

US President Donald Trump has included Pakistan among countries that he claims are "testing nuclear weapons", saying that he did not want the US to be the only country that does not do so.

"North Korea has been testing. Pakistan has been testing. […] But they don't go and tell you about it," he said in an interview on CBS News programme '60 Minutes', where he was asked about his recent directives to the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons. He also named Russia and China as testing nuclear weapons.

When the matter was brought up during the interview, Trump said: "Well, we have more nuclear weapons than any other country. I think we should do something about denuclearisation. And I did actually discuss that with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Xi.

"We have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world a 150 times. Russia has a lot of nuclear weapons, and China will have a lot," he said.

At this point, he was interrupted by the interviewer, who asked, "So why do we have to test our nuclear weapons?"

"Well, because you have to see how they work," replied Trump. "Testing is because Russia announced that they are gonna do a test. If you notice, North Korea is testing constantly, other countries are testing. We are the only country that doesn't test, I don't want to be the only country that doesn't test."

He was then asked to clarify whether he was saying that the US would start detonating nuclear weapons after more than 30 years.

He replied, "I am saying that we are going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do."

But the only country that was testing nuclear weapons was North Korea, the interviewer pointed out. Russia and China have not carried out such tests since 1990 and 1996, respectively. To that, Trump said Russia and China, too, were testing nuclear weapons. "You just don't know about it."

Nigeria

US President Donald Trump has repeated his threat of a military operation in Nigeria over killings of Christians, and that it could be ground or air attacks.

As claims of Christian "persecution" in Africa's most populous country have found traction online among the US and European right, experts say Nigeria's myriad conflicts kill both Christians and Muslims without distinction.

Trump's remarks came after the Nigerian presidency suggested a meeting between the two leaders to resolve the issue.

Asked by an AFP reporter aboard Air Force One if he was considering US troops on the ground in Nigeria or air strikes, Trump replied: "Could be, I mean, a lot of things -- I envisage a lot of things." (With additional input from AFP)