Trump said on Thursday in an interview with US broadcaster Newsmax that the United States is discussing a route to 'denuclearise' with both Russia and China.
'The whole thing is a shame because I'd love to denuclearise if possible,' Trump said. 'We're actually talking to Russia about that, and we're talking to China about that denuclearisation.'
He said China, which holds the world's third largest nuclear arsenal, is racing to catch up with the US and Russia, and predicted it would do so within five years. Newsmax reported that Trump had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the subject, though no further details about the talks with either country were released.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, with the US close behind. Together the two countries possess an estimated 86 percent of all nuclear weapons globally. China's arsenal has expanded to about 620 warheads over the past year, still far smaller than the more than 4,000 each held by the US and Russia.
Trump's remarks came shortly after the expiration of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the arms control agreement limiting US and Russian nuclear arsenals. A month after the treaty lapsed, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the Forward Deterrence Initiative, as Russia's nuclear sabre-rattling during its war on Ukraine has alarmed Europe.
Trump acknowledged that China 'doesn't seem willing' to disarm but said talks have continued.
Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans warned that the world has grown complacent about nuclear risk.
'The world has become alarmingly complacent about the risks of nuclear war with every major nuclear arms control agreement dead, dying or on life support and the longstanding taboo against threat or use eroding,' he told Al Jazeera.