Trump era

Donald Trump is breaking tradition at almost every turn, which may be one reason he was the most unpopular incoming president in history. As former Vice President Joe Biden told The New York Times shortly before Trump took office, when it comes to foreign policy, "We have no freakin' idea what he's gonna do."

We do, however, know what we will do.

We will do everything we can to push for saner nuclear policies during the Trump administration. Donald Trump’s loose talk about nuclear expansion has only energized us to double down and work harder than ever before to protect everyone’s right to a future safe from nuclear dangers. We will continue to work on policies that are best for our nation, from taking nuclear weapons off high alert and requiring to congressional approval before any president can launch them in a first strike, to preserving the Iran deal, preventing an escalation with North Korea and stopping a new global arms race to rebuild nuclear weapons from taking off.

For the last 35 years we’ve sought out and funded the best initiatives and individuals – including nuclear scientists, policy experts, grassroots activists, creative innovators and many more – working to make sure nuclear weapons are never used again. Now, more than ever, please consider making a small monthly gift.

Today, as the largest public foundation in the United States dedicated exclusively to the elimination of nuclear weapons, we act at the hub of the best and brightest to push for saner nuclear policies and reductions in arsenals worldwide.

Latest News and Analysis on Nuclear Weapons in the Trump Era

  • Hiroshima Day 2017

    On August 6, 1945, the United States became the first and only nation to use a nuclear weapon in combat, when it dropped the ‘Little Boy’ atomic bomb on Hiroshima and ‘Fat Man’ on Nagasaki three days later. The two bombings killed at least 129,000 people and injured many others. Radiation from...

    August 4, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • WATCH: John Kerry defends Iran nuclear deal

    It’s been two years since world leaders finalized the historic Iran nuclear agreement in Vienna. It stopped Iran from developing a nuclear weapon without starting another devastating war in the Middle East. And it is working. In early June, Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a powerful...

    July 12, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Grantee Spotlight: VoteVets

    When veterans have something to say about peace and security, people tend to listen. They have seen firsthand the human costs of war. And it’s American soldiers on the frontline — along with civilians caught in the crosshairs of conflict — that pay the highest price. Not the policy and decision-...

    July 12, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • New Report: President Trump Should Rethink NATO Missile Defense

    As President Donald Trump meets for the first time with NATO leaders in Brussels, the global security foundation Ploughshares Fund today released a new report recommending that the United States rethink its strategy to buy new missile interceptors for Europe. Rather than field a new anti-missile...

    May 24, 2017 - By Tom Collina
  • Nearly 500,000 to Congress: Take Trump’s Finger Off the Nuclear Button

    On Wednesday May 3, at a press conference on Capitol Hill, members of Congress accepted nearly 500,000 petition signatures collected by global security organizations, anti-nuclear weapons advocates, and progressive advocacy organizations in support of legislation that would limit President Trump...

    May 4, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • North Korea: On the Verge?

    We are extremely alarmed by reports that North Korea is preparing for another nuclear test. We have now reached a new stage of crisis on the Korean Peninsula. To prepare and respond to the growing emergency, Ploughshares Fund has activated a network of partners and grantees to do everything we...

    April 14, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Philip Yun on Stopping a North Korea Catastrophe

    "It's not clear what North Korea is going to do on April 15th, before, on or around, but you can expect they are going to do something. There is speculation that there will be either a missile test or a nuclear test. We know that the testing grounds for where they normally do the...

    April 13, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • How Donald Trump Could Blow Up the World All by Himself

    President Donald Trump alone controls the US nuclear arsenal. He alone decides whether to use one or one thousand nuclear weapons. He does not have to check with anyone, not even Steve Bannon. At a moment’s notice, he can launch some 900 nuclear weapons with the destructive power of 20,000...

    March 29, 2017 - By Joe Cirincione
  • Lessons Learned: Paul Olum Grant
    Last month our government handed over not only executive authority; it also lost eight years of institutional knowledge on nuclear security. It is critical to ensure nuclear policy expertise and the many lessons learned from the Obama Administration are not forgotten. 
    As...
    March 3, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Why Donald Trump's Plan to Be Leader of the Nuclear Pack is Nuts

    In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Donald Trump boasted “if countries are going to have nukes, we’re going to be at the top of the pack.” He then blasted the “one-sided” New START treaty with...

    February 27, 2017 - By Joe Cirincione