Last week U.S. President Donald Trump published a confused tweet about nuclear testing:

…  Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.  …

Some media panicky wrote that Trump had ordered to detonate nuclear warheads.

I disagreed with that interpretation:

All nuclear warheads the U.S. has are under the control of the Department of Energy. It is the sole agency that can do test explosions of nuclear warheads. The nuclear delivery vehicles which are used to deploy the war heads are under the control of the Department of Defense (or ‘Department of War’ as Trump calls it).

Trump said “Because of other countries testing programs” and “start testing … on an equal basis” both in reference of nuclear delivery vehicle tests of other countries.

Trump thereby likely meant to order the DoD to test its nuclear delivery vehicles, just like Russia has recently done. He did not order the DoE to test nuclear war heads.

The testing of nuclear delivery vehicles, like intercontinental missiles, is a routine that has been done every year since those exist.

It is nothing to panic about.

On Sunday the Energy Secretary confirms that no nuclear explosions are involved (archived):

The nuclear testing ordered by President Trump will not involve nuclear explosions, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday, adding that the testing would involve “the other parts of a nuclear weapon” to ensure they are working properly.

Mr. Wright’s comments came four days after Mr. Trump made the declaration that he was ordering the U.S. military to resume nuclear testing “on an equal basis” with other countries, raising the specter of a return to the worst days of the Cold War.

“I think the tests we’re talking about right now are systems tests,” Mr. Wright said in an interview on the Fox News show “The Sunday Briefing.” “These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions.”

Noncritical or subcritical explosion test are those where, for example, the chemical explosives which, within a nuclear warhead, are supposed to initiate the nuclear fission are tested for their stability. That is, like testing the wiring of a warhead detonator, routine stuff which every country that has nuclear weapons does on a regular basis.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is where the U.S. is doing these tests:
Cont. reading: Trump’s Nuclear Weapon Tests Won’t Include Nuke Explosions

Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama:

• Oct 27 – Sitting In A Damaged Glasshouse Throwing More Stones
  Related:
  – Ukraine curbs power supplies after attack on energy facilities, Kyiv says – Reuters
  – G7 ministers to discuss support for Ukraine amid energy crisis – UkrInform
  – Entire Donetsk Oblast left without power – Ukrainske Pravda

• Oct 28 – How Can Japan Handle Its $550 Billion Trump Problem?
  Related:
  – Trump aims to open Japan to U.S. autos with tariffs. It’s a tough sell – Detroit News
  – Japan’s Central Bank Holds Fire as Tariffs, Politics Cloud Policy Target – WSJ via </>MSN
  – Japan’s Takaichi and China’s Xi agree to pursue stable ties – Reuters

• Oct 29 – English Outsider On Solving Ukraine
  Related:
  – A Few Thoughts About the Russian End Game in Ukraine and the Risk of Losing the Peace – Naked Capitalism
  – Living Dangerously – Russo-Ukrainian War: Autumn 2025 – Big Serge <- Recommended
  – I hate to say it, but Kyiv won’t last till spring (archived) – The Times
  – The dark side of Zelenskyy’s rule – Politico
  – Almost 100,000 young men flee Ukraine in two months – Telegraph
  – Did Ukraine Just Quietly Attack Two European Countries? – American Conservative
  – What will it cost to make Vladimir Putin stop? (archived) – Economist

> We calculate that Ukraine will need approximately $389bn in cash and arms over the four years from 2026 to 2029 (for consistency we are using dollars and constant prices throughout), mainly from Europe. That is almost double the roughly $206bn that Europe has supplied since just before the war started in February 2022. <

• Oct 30 – A Nuclear Delivery Vehicle Is Not A Nuclear War Head
  Related:
  – Opinion: Why Trump’s talk about nuclear testing is dangerous – Salt Lake Tribune
  – The experts respond to Trump’s proposal to “start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis” – The Bulletin
  – Trump push to restart nuclear tests could take years, cost millions, experts say (archived) – Washington Post

• Oct 31 – U.S. Ready To Bomb Venezuela Under Absurdly False Pretext
  Related:
  – Pentagon Tells Congress It Doesn’t Know Who It’s Killing in Latin American Boat Strikes – Scheerpost
  – Trump administration tells Congress war law doesn’t apply to cartel strikes (archived) – Washington Post
  – Russia Ready to Assist Venezuela in Response to Intervention Threats Orinoco Tribune
  – How Miami hawks hijacked Trump’s foreign policy They’ve long dreamed of toppling Maduro – Unherd
  – The Regime Change Temptation in Venezuela – To Overthrow Maduro Would Not End Well – Foreign Affairs
  – ‘This is no drill’ – State One Alert Level – Trinidad Express

• Nov 1 – Ukraine – Hail Mary Operation To Unblock Pokrovsk Has Failed
  Related:
  – Who will save Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk? (archived) – Spectator
  – Pokrovsk, Syrsky, and black hawks down – Events in Ukraine
  – No encirclement of Pokrovsk: Armed Forces, Security Service and Defence Intelligence of Ukraine operating in city, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says – Ukrainske Pravda
  – Ukrainian troops have improved tactical position in several areas of Pokrovsk, Air Assault Forces say – video – Ukrainske Pravda

—
Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2025-254

The Ukrainian army has lost control over the Pokrovsk / Myrnograd agglomeration. Russian forces had over months slowly enveloped the cities from the east and the west. The corridor leading out of it was put under Russian drone control. Any vehicle trying to pass through was attacked.

biggerThe Ukrainian leadership had thrown any reserves it had to reopen the corridor to the city. All such attempts were destined to fail. A last Hail Mary move was the helicopter insertion of a dozen special forces commanded by the Military Intelligence Service GRU.

Ukraine lands special forces in embattled Pokrovsk, sources say – Reuters, Oct 3 2025

Ukraine landed special forces to fight in embattled parts of the eastern city of Pokrovsk earlier this week, just as Russia said it had surrounded Kyiv’s forces in the area, two Ukrainian military sources said on Friday.
…
The Ukrainian special forces landed in a Black Hawk helicopter a few days ago in the operation, which was complicated by Russian drone activity, a source in the 7th Rapid Response Corps said.

The operation was overseen by military spy chief Kyrylo Budanov, and the troops headed to areas of the city claimed by Russia and seen by Moscow as vital for Ukrainian supply lines, the other source said.

At least 10 servicemen could be seen dismounting from a helicopter in a field in a video seen by Reuters. The news agency could not independently confirm the location or date when the video was filmed.

A video of the helicopter insertion is here

Other videos, according to AMK mapping, show that none of the inserted soldiers survived:

Cont. reading: Ukraine – Hail Mary Operation To Unblock Pokrovsk Has Failed