North Korea has significantly ramped up its weapons testing under US President Donald Trump’s second term, conducting launches at twice the pace seen during his first term. As of Nov 8, 2026, the country has carried out over 20 launch events, a rate second only to 2022, when it began supplying weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine. The number of launches since Trump’s second term began already exceeds the 17 recorded at the same point in his first term, according to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
With Trump preparing for an Asia trip, North Korea has conducted four weapons tests in the past two weeks alone. Analysts suggest this surge underscores how much higher the bar has become for leader Kim Jong Un to make concessions in any negotiations with the US, especially after the Republican Party suffered major setbacks in last week’s midterm elections. Adam Farrar, a former director on the US National Security Council, noted that Kim now has more resources to fund testing, boosted by revenue from supporting Russia’s war and crypto thefts.
Compared with 2017, when Trump threatened to unleash “fire and fury” against Kim, North Korea’s arsenal has grown and diversified. It now includes dispersal warheads, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, drones, and what North Korea claims to be a hypersonic weapons system. Farrar, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Economics, said the regime appears focused on testing and potentially fielding a more capable generation of close- and short-range ballistic missiles, giving it more targeting options in any conflict.
Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, noted that the normalization of weapons testing is itself an achievement for North Korea. She said the country’s ability to conduct this level of testing without significant international backlash highlights how the world has come to terms with North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. Meanwhile, there is little indication Kim is willing to meet with Trump again soon, though Trump may try to capitalize on his broad authority over foreign policy now that Democrats have won control of Congress.