Trump urges new nuclear treaty after Russia agreement ends

Trump calls for a new nuclear treaty after New START's expiration, urging inclusion of China amid rising global arms race fears.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (February 5, 2026) called for a brand new nuclear treaty after the last agreement with Russia expired, prompting fears of a new global arms race.

The Trump administration has repeatedly pressed for a new treaty to include China, whose arsenal is growing but still significantly smaller than those of Russia and the United States, but Beijing has publicly rejected the pressure.

Mr. Trump had been mostly mum on Russian calls to extend New START, the 2010 treaty that imposed the last restrictions on the two largest nuclear powers after decades of agreements dating from the Cold War.

But hours after it expired, Mr. Trump said that the treaty, signed by predecessor Barack Obama and extended by Joe Biden, was "badly negotiated" and "is being grossly violated."

"We should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Asked if Washington and Moscow had agreed to stick to the terms of the expired START treaty while negotiations on a new accord are ongoing, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said: "Not to my knowledge."