Trump Calls for Denuclearization as Russia, US, and China Lead Global Weapons Stockpile

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his stance on denuclearization, cautioning that the accumulation of nuclear weapons posed a significant threat to global safety and security.

He spoke at the Future Investment Initiative Institute’s Priority Summit in Miami, Florida, an event attended by senior cabinet officials, diplomats, and business leaders.

During his speech, Trump addressed various topics, including investments, budget reductions, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the policies of the Biden administration, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The U.S. leader said, “Without strength, it’s going to be very hard to have peace,” while stressing the need for nations to have a strong military to protect their people.

However, the president opposed the continued development of nuclear warheads. According to the Atomic Scientists and the Federation of American Scientists, Russia and the U.S. each possess over 5,000, while China has approximately 500.

“I was dealing with President Putin on denuclearization,” Trump recalled. “We were talking about it very seriously, and then COVID came and lots of things came. Russia and us have the biggest nuclear [stockpiles] by far.”

“China is not close, but they will be close in three or four or five years. I spoke to President Xi very successfully about it. We were going to denuclearize, we were going to get the smaller powers, three or maybe four, to do something.”

“If you’re president, you get presentations about what we’re building, what we’re having. When I saw the power of nuclear weapons… we can never let that happen. If that happens, the world will be destroyed.”

“You look at Hiroshima, Nagasaki—multiply that by 500 times, the world will be destroyed. We can’t let other countries get nuclear weapons, not only Iran. The power of weaponry now is so enormous that the world would disintegrate; we can’t let it happen.”

In his speech, Trump criticized the previous U.S. administration’s spending in various countries, questioning the consultant who received $520 million for environmental, social, and governance investments in Africa.

“All of these scams have now been terminated. Over the past month, we have effectively eliminated the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, which was funding much of this lunacy. We shut down the out-of-control CFPB.”

“What they were doing was so terrible, where they were sending the money was terrible. What we haven’t looked at yet is: did the money come back to them? We’ll figure that out pretty easily and quickly,” the president hinted.

Asked to describe the United States in three words, Trump replied, “Love, respect, and strength,” then added, “That may have been the toughest question, actually.”