Contents
Trump denuclearization talks with Moscow and Beijing are underway, according to the president himself. In a Newsmax interview released October 15, President Donald Trump said Washington is holding talks with Russia and China aimed at cutting the world’s biggest nuclear stockpiles. “The whole thing is a shame, because I’d love to denuclearize if possible, but we’re actually talking to Russia about that, and we’re talking to China about that denuclearization,” Trump told the outlet. The remarks landed just months after the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty expired — and with China building up its arsenal fast.
Trump Denuclearization Talks: What the President Announced
The interview, taped for the conservative network Newsmax, gave Trump a chance to sketch out an unusually sweeping ambition. He framed the effort as talks with the countries holding the largest nuclear stockpiles on earth. Russia, he noted, has the most stored warheads, followed by the United States and then China — a ranking drawn from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The U.S., though, still leads Russia in the number of deployed warheads.
Trump said he expects China to “catch up” with the United States within the next five years. That prediction is the engine driving the urgency: Beijing’s arsenal has been growing fast, and American officials have warned for years that China is racing toward parity. Newsmax reported that Trump had already spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about denuclearization directly.
Why the Timing Matters
The Trump denuclearization talks arrive at a moment when the old arms-control architecture is essentially gone. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty — New START — expired in February this year. Signed in 2010, it was the last deal capping American and Russian strategic arsenals, and it allowed exactly one extension. Former President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to that five-year extension in 2021. Nothing replaced it when it lapsed.
Beijing has historically resisted trilateral arms-control formats that cap its growing arsenal, and Chinese statements after recent leader-level contacts left the arms-control topic out — a silence that says plenty about how hard Beijing will be to pin down. That resistance is the biggest obstacle facing the Trump denuclearization talks.
The Numbers Behind the Arsenals
Russia holds the largest total stockpile of nuclear warheads, with the United States close behind and China in third — but the gap is shrinking, which is the whole point of Trump’s five-year warning. Navigating that imbalance is the central challenge of the Trump denuclearization talks. Washington still leads in deployed warheads, the ones actually mounted and ready. Each side’s position shapes what it wants from a deal: Russia has leverage in sheer numbers, while China, still building, has reason to drag its feet.
Why Analysts Aren’t Celebrating Yet
Strip away the headlines and the Trump denuclearization talks face long odds. Three-way arms control has never been done — every previous deal was bilateral, Washington and Moscow alone. Adding China, with its different arsenal and deep suspicion of American intentions, multiplies the complexity. The old treaties had inspectors and verification protocols built over decades; any new deal would need all of that from zero.
His bet is that the Trump denuclearization talks can succeed through leader-to-leader dealmaking. History suggests it’s a long shot — but the alternative, an unconstrained three-way arms race, is what everyone fears most.
Sources and Resources
- Reuters — Trump says he is talking to Russia and China about denuclearization
- The White House — official statements and readouts
- World Reach Daily — Politics news and analysis
FAQs
Is Trump really trying to get rid of all nuclear weapons?
Not exactly — at least not in any formal sense yet. He said he’d “love to denuclearize if possible,” but what he described are talks aimed at reducing the biggest stockpiles, not abolishing them. There’s no treaty text, no announced framework, and no timeline. Think of it as an opening bid, not a signed deal.
Why does Trump think China will catch up within five years?
Beijing has been expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country, adding warheads and building new missile silos. American intelligence and independent researchers like SIPRI have tracked that buildup for years. Trump’s five-year prediction is his way of saying the window to lock China into arms limits is closing — once Beijing reaches parity, it has less reason to negotiate caps.
What happened to the New START treaty?
It expired in February 2026. The treaty, signed in 2010, capped U.S. and Russian deployed strategic warheads and allowed only one extension — which Biden and Putin agreed to in 2021. When that ran out, there was no replacement. Right now there are zero binding limits on American or Russian nuclear arsenals for the first time in decades, and the Trump denuclearization talks are the first serious attempt to fill that vacuum.
Has China ever joined a nuclear arms control deal?
No. Every major nuclear arms treaty was strictly between the United States and Russia (or the Soviet Union). China always stayed out, arguing its smaller arsenal shouldn’t be capped while the two giants kept thousands of warheads. That’s precisely why a trilateral deal would be historic — and so difficult.
Could Trump, Putin and Xi actually meet and talk nukes?
It’s possible but far from certain. A leaders’ meeting would be the first real test of whether the Trump denuclearization talks are substance or theater. Watch for announcements in the coming weeks — a confirmed trilateral meeting would be the strongest sign yet that the talks have real momentum.
Conclusion
Trump’s Newsmax interview put the Trump denuclearization talks on the table in the bluntest possible terms: negotiations with Russia and China aimed at the world’s biggest arsenals, with a ticking clock set by Beijing’s buildup and the corpse of New START in the background. Whether it becomes a genuine diplomatic breakthrough or another bold claim that fades will come down to one thing — whether three rival leaders can agree, in the same room, that fewer nuclear weapons make all of them safer.