Trump Says US Holding Denuclearization Talks With Russia, China

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States is holding talks with Russia and China aimed at denuclearizing the countries with the world's largest nuclear weapons stockpiles. The remarks, made in an interview with Newsmax, come months after the last remaining nuclear arms-control treaty between Washington and Moscow expired — leaving the globe's two biggest arsenals without any formal limits for the first time in decades.

President Donald Trump, in an official portrait. (File photo)

In the interview, Trump said he expects China to "catch up" with the United States within the next five years, and described his ambition in plain terms. "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 denuclearization," Trump told the outlet, according to reports of the interview.

According to Newsmax, Trump also told the outlet that he had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about denuclearization — a detail that raises the profile of the conversations from talking points to direct leader-level engagement. The White House has not yet released further details about who is conducting the talks, when they began, or what framework they might follow.

What Trump Said

Trump's comments amount to the most direct public claim yet that his administration is actively pursuing a three-way arms conversation with Moscow and Beijing. The president has long expressed fascination with the idea of denuclearization, but past efforts never advanced beyond aspiration.

The Newsmax interview focused heavily on the shifting balance of nuclear power. Trump emphasized that while the United States has long held the largest deployed arsenal, China is building up rapidly — and could reach parity with Washington within five years, in his estimation. The prediction, if accurate, would mark a dramatic acceleration in Beijing's nuclear modernization program and fundamentally reshape the strategic landscape.

Notably, Trump framed the effort as a three-power negotiation rather than a traditional bilateral arms-control process. That distinction matters: for more than half a century, the United States and Russia (and before it, the Soviet Union) negotiated limits on their arsenals one-on-one, with China sitting out every major agreement.

A Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile during a test launch. (File photo)

A Treaty Era Ends

Trump's comments land just months after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty — better known as New START — expired earlier this year, ending the final binding nuclear arms agreement between the United States and Russia.

The treaty, signed in 2010, placed limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons and gave each side the right to inspect the other's arsenals. It permitted a single extension, which was agreed by former President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding five years to the pact's lifespan. With that extension now exhausted, any new limits would require an executive decision to voluntarily extend the treaty's restrictions.

The lapse has been a source of quiet unease among arms-control specialists for months. Without the treaty's verification regime — on-site inspections, data exchanges, and notification requirements — neither Washington nor Moscow has a reliable window into the other's arsenal beyond satellite surveillance and intelligence estimates.

The Stockpile Picture

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, cited in reporting on Trump's remarks, Russia holds the most stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and then China. The United States, however, outpaces Russia on the number of deployed warheads — weapons actually mounted on missiles or positioned at bomber bases and ready for use.

That distinction between stored and deployed weapons is central to the strategic debate. Stored warheads include retired weapons awaiting dismantlement and reserves held in central storage, while deployed weapons represent the immediately usable force. Arms-control agreements have historically focused on deployed weapons, the category both sides could use most quickly in a crisis.

China's arsenal, while still the smallest of the three by a wide margin, is the fastest-growing. Trump's estimate that Beijing could "catch up" within five years would put the world on track for a genuine three-power nuclear competition — a scenario strategists have warned about but never actually faced.

China on the Clock

Trump's "catch up" prediction is the most striking element of the interview. If China were to reach nuclear parity with the United States within five years, it would upend the strategic calculus that has underpinned American military planning for decades.

Analysts cited in reporting on the remarks have long warned that Beijing's nuclear buildup is outpacing Western estimates, with new missile silo fields and a rapidly expanding submarine fleet. But parity with the United States — which maintains a far larger and more diversified arsenal — would still represent a leap that many experts consider ambitious on Trump's timeline.

The president offered no details about the basis for his estimate, and it remains unclear whether it reflects classified assessments or his own read of the situation. What is clear is that the White House is treating China's nuclear trajectory as a central driver of its arms-control push.

The Kremlin in Moscow. (File photo)

What This Means

If genuine talks are under way, they would represent a significant diplomatic initiative — and a steep climb. Denuclearization as Trump describes it would require Russia and China to voluntarily surrender capabilities each treats as central to its national security, in exchange for reciprocal American restraint. No such three-way bargain has ever been attempted.

Skeptics will note the gap between announcement and achievement. Nuclear arms control has historically moved slowly even between two parties: the original New START took nearly a year of negotiations, and its predecessor treaties took far longer. Adding a third party — China, which has never participated in any nuclear arms-limitation agreement and has shown little appetite for doing so — multiplies the difficulty.

There is also the question of what the talks actually are. Trump's remarks offered no details about who is representing the United States, whether the conversations are happening through diplomatic channels or leader-to-leader calls, or what each side is being asked to consider. Until the administration provides more specifics, the precise status of any talks remains a matter of the president's word.

What Happens Next

The most immediate question is whether the White House will follow up with details — the names of negotiators, a timetable, or a proposed framework. A formal announcement would transform Thursday's interview remarks from a statement of intent into a trackable diplomatic process.

Observers will also be watching Moscow and Beijing for any response. Neither government has publicly confirmed the talks Trump described, and their reaction — endorsement, silence, or dismissal — will say a great deal about how seriously the initiative is being taken by the other two capitals.

Beyond the diplomacy, the expiry of New START means the world's nuclear powers are operating without formal guardrails for now. Whether Trump's three-way vision can fill that void — or whether it remains an aspiration — is a question that will define the nuclear age's next chapter.