On Monday, Politico reported that the Trump administration is exploring options for bringing nuclear warheads into service if New START, a nonproliferation treaty with Russia, is allowed to expire next year.
"The Trump administration has asked the military to assess how quickly it could pull nuclear weapons out of storage and load them onto bombers and submarines if an arms control treaty with Russia is allowed to expire in February, according to three people familiar with the discussions," reported Daniel Lippman, Bryan Bender, and Lara Seligman.
New START was ratified in 2010, and has limited escalation of nuclear technology between the United States and Russia.
"In making the request, the Trump administration wants to underscore that it is serious about letting the treaty lapse if Russia fails to meet U.S. demands," said the report. "The negotiating team is leery that Russia is dragging out the talks in the hope that Joe Biden — who has pledged to extend New START under what Moscow believes will be more favorable terms than what this White House is offering — wins the election."