The Department of Energy told the Exchange Monitor Monday that, despite media outlets saying otherwise, President Donald Trump will not be meeting in the Oval Office with high-level nuclear weapons complex officials.
News outlets such as CNN reported Friday that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) head Brandon Williams, and officials from the national labs would meet with Trump in the coming days to discuss nuclear weapons testing. A DOE spokesperson told the Monitor in an email that “the CNN story is incorrect,” and “no such meetings” are scheduled “in the near term.”
“The Trump administration continues to explore all options as it moves to expand nuclear testing on an equal basis with other nations,” the spokesperson said.
Trump announced in late October that he ordered the Pentagon to test nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with other countries. While Wright told Fox News he thought Trump meant “noncritical tests” and “not nuclear explosions,” Trump did not clarify what he meant a few days later on 60 Minutes when asked.
On Nov. 7, Reps. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Susie Lee (D-Nev.) introduced the “No Nuclear Testing Without Approval Act” which would prevent explosive nuclear testing, particularly in Nevada, without Congressional approval. Horsford and Lee also joined Nevada Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto in sending a letter to Trump, Wright, Williams and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to express “outrage” at the “intent to test nuclear weapons.