Trump downplays China-Russia-Iran nuclear talks, says they may discuss 'de-escalation'

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President Donald Trump, speaking from the Oval Office Thursday, downplayed an upcoming nuclear summit in Beijing between Iran, Russia, and China, three chief adversaries of the U.S.

The discussions, first confirmed by the Chinese foreign ministry Thursday and which come just days after Iran rebuffed Trump's push to engage in nuclear negotiations, will coincide with a United Nations Security Council meeting regarding Tehran's expansion of near-weapons-grade uranium. 

Trump suggested perhaps Beijing, Moscow and Tehran will be having their own discussions on "de-escalation."

"Well, maybe they're going to talk about non-nuclear problems. Maybe they're going to be talking about the de-escalation of nuclear weapons," Trump told reporters.

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Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin once engaged in "strong" talks about nuclear weapons and said he believes, had he won the 2016 election, further Russian denuclearization would have been on the table. 

"I think I would have made a deal with Putin on de-escalation, denuclearization," Trump said. "But we would have de-escalated nuclear weapons because the power of nuclear weapons is so great and so devastating."

The president also claimed that China would "catch us in five years" because of its rapid development of its nuclear stockpiles, though this would be far sooner than other experts have warned. 

The Pentagon in 2024 assessed that China is believed to have 600 nuclear weapons, up from the low 200s in 2020. But, in a report Wednesday, experts with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said claims that China will be a "peer" or "near peer" with the U.S. in the near future were a "gross exaggeration." 

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"There is no evidence that China's ongoing nuclear expansion will result in parity with the U.S. arsenal," the report said. "Even the worst-case 2023 projection of 1,500 warheads by 2035 amounts to less than half of the current U.S. nuclear stockpile."

Russia is believed to have 5,580 nuclear weapons, and the U.S. is reported to have 5,225, while China comes in at a distant third, according to the Arms Control Association. 

Concerns over North Korea's largely unchecked nuclear program have also continued to mount in recent years, particularly after Pyongyang formed closer ties with Moscow after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

"It would be a great achievement if we could bring down the number," Trump said. 

"You don't need them to that extent," he added, noting the immense destruction even one nuclear weapon could inflict. 

North Korea is estimated to have 50 nuclear weapons, which Trump noted is "a lot."

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But he also pointed to the positive relationship he had with Kim Jong Un during his first presidency and suggested that relationship could extend during his second term. Trump appeared to suggest there could be room for nuclear negotiations. 

"I have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un, and we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters. "But certainly he's a nuclear power."