US reveals nuclear bomb numbers after Trump blackout
10:06AM October 6, 2021
The US State Department published on Tuesday the number of nuclear warheads the country stockpiles for the first time in four years, after former president Donald Trump placed a blackout on the data.
As of September 30, 2020, the US military maintained 3,750 active and inactive nuclear warheads, down by 55 from a year earlier and by 72 from the same date in 2017.
The numbers were released Tuesday amid an effort by the administration of President Joe Biden to restart arms controls talks with Russia after they stalled under Trump.
Trump, who pulled the United States from the Iran nuclear deal and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia, also left another crucial pact, the New Start Treaty on the rocks last year before its scheduled expiration on February 5.
Trump said he wanted a new deal that includes China, which only has a fraction of the warheads that the United States and Russia have.
The deal caps at 1,550 the number of nuclear warheads that can be deployed by Moscow and Washington.
A US official called the talks “productive,” but both sides said the mere fact of holding the talks was positive.
India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea have together around 460 nuclear warheads, according to the institute.
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