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

  • The Coronavirus Teaches Us Not to Let Trump Press the Nuclear Button

    President Trump has swung from calling the coronavirus pandemic “totally under control” to a “national emergency” and back. Trump’s latest idea that the nation could be “opened up and just raring to go by Easter” did not stand up to scrutiny. Amazingly, we are months into this crisis and the...

    March 31, 2020 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Trump Is Misleading America Into A New War

    This is not a drill. A new Middle East war is coming, perhaps soon. Only dramatic political action by the American people and their political leaders can stop it. President Trump says he does not want war with Iran. Perhaps the entire war scare is just another neurotic impulse. Or he may believe...

    June 19, 2019 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • A new, hopeful moment for US nuclear policy

    Underneath the daily, depressing headlines, five converging trends offer hope, for the first time in more than a decade, for dramatic positive change in US nuclear policy. The first trend is the growing recognition that current US nuclear security strategies have failed to make America safer....

    April 17, 2019 - By Joe Cirincione
  • California Aims to Reduce Risk of Nuclear War

    In part through the tireless work of several of our grantees, California just passed a state resolution urging Congress to support national legislation restricting the President's sole authority to launch a nuclear first strike. If you live in California, see how your California State Senator...

    August 29, 2018 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • The North Korea Moment

    I was born at the end of the Cold War, but the world is no less dangerous today. Fears from my parent’s generation, including the resurgence of an arms race and increases in nuclear weapons spending, have yet to fade. Only now, those fears are compounded by the emergence of new nuclear states...

    May 24, 2018 - By Catherine Killough
  • Trump's Iran Deal Violation

    Donald Trump recently made the most destructive decision of his presidency. He set it up with an avalanche of lies and then killed the deal that rolled back Iran's nuclear program and prevented them from ever getting a nuclear weapon. Then, he announced his violation of the agreement as if it...

    May 15, 2018 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Joe Cirincione at Conference on World Affairs

    Nuclear expert, author, and Ploughshares Fund president Joe Cirincione attended the 70th annual Conference on World Affairs for a series of panels and presentations on nuclear disarmament, international terrorism, and US interventionism, with a special keynote presentation on US nuclear policy....

    April 9, 2018 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Block Mike Pompeo, Say No to Nuclear War

    Together, we can prevent a global catastrophe. Sign our petition to block Mike Pompeo, who has been nominated as Secretary of State. Pompeo is a harsh critic of the Iran nuclear agreement, which currently blocks Iran’s pathways to acquiring nuclear weapons, and has called for military strikes...

    April 4, 2018 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • North Korea, Bellicose Tweets and Other Nuclear Challenges

    The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists recently set the Doomsday Clock ahead 30 seconds, 2 minutes to the proverbial 'midnight' signifying the end of humanity as we know it. This 30‑second move from last year, sets the clock as close to midnight as it has been since 1953, after the Soviet Union and...

    January 25, 2018 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Give Trump New Nukes and We Are That Much Closer to War

    It’s bad enough that President Donald Trump has absolute authority to launch the vast US nuclear arsenal and effectively end the world as we know it. And it’s bad enough that President Trump, ignoring...

    January 23, 2018 - By Tom Collina