Trump says U.S. will exit Reagan-era nuclear treaty with Russia
President Trump said Saturday evening he intends to withdraw the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Reagan-era arms control agreement with Russia (originally the Soviet Union) that eliminated thousands of short- and intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
"Russia has violated the agreement. They've been violating it for many years," Trump said. "And I don't know why President Obama didn't negotiate or pull out. And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to."
NATO has confirmed Russian missile tests in the past decade likely violate the deal. "Russia has not provided any credible answers on this new missile," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this month. "All allies agree that the most plausible assessment would be that Russia is in violation of the treaty. It is therefore urgent that Russia addresses these concerns in a substantial and transparent manner."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In early October, Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison, the United States' permanent representative to NATO, said "countermeasures would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty" if Moscow does not change course.
The INF Treaty was originally signed in 1987 between then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. It took effect in 1988.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Today's political cartoons - January 18, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - Bondi on the Bible, climate change, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 Senate-approved cartoons on the Trump confirmation hearings
Cartoons Artists take on non-answers, drunken rhetoric, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The best new cars for 2025
The Week Recommends From family SUVs to luxury all-electrics these are the most hotly anticipated vehicles
By The Week UK Published
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US Senate
Speed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Pam Bondi downplays politics at confirmation hearing
Speed Read Trump's pick for attorney general claimed her Justice Department would not prosecute anyone for political reasons
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden warns of oligarchy in farewell address
Speed Read The president issued a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked power in the hands of the ultra-wealthy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hegseth boosts hopes for confirmation amid grilling
Speed Read The Senate held confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary nominee
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden removes Cuba from terrorism blacklist
Speed read The move is likely to be reversed by the incoming Trump administration, as it was Trump who first put Cuba on the terrorism blacklist in his first term
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
South Korea arrests impeached president
speed read Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained, making him the first sitting president to be arrested in the country's history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
House GOP unveils bill for Trump to buy Greenland
Speed Read The bill would allow the U.S. to purchase the Danish territory — or procure it through economic or military force
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DOJ releases Trump Jan. 6 special counsel report
Speed Read Jack Smith's report details the president-elect's "criminal efforts to retain power" amid the 2020 election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published