Rhetoric Aside, the US Commitment to Preventing Nuclear Terrorism is Waning

With the world focused on the United States and North Korea, it’s easy to forget that every president for a quarter-century has said preventing nuclear terrorism was a national security priority. This includes the Trump administration, which identified in its Nuclear Posture Review that nuclear terrorism is one of “the most significant threats to the security of the United States.” It appears, however, despite this strong rhetoric, the administration may not be putting its money where its mouth is.

The Trump administration is proposing massive cuts to vital programs responsible for securing nuclear weapons-usable material around the world. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the agency primarily responsible for working with other countries to reduce nuclear terrorism risks, wants to reduce spending for nuclear security programs by $115 million in 2019, a 26 percent reduction from last year.