White House Denies Report Trump Was Unaware Of US-Russia Nuclear Pact

But many within the White House beg to differ. “He wanted an opinion on something”. The treaty limits both countries’ nuclear arsenals to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads.

Trump on the campaign trail had denounced the treaty, which he referred to as the “START Up” treaty. But getting along with Putin does not require excusing this campaign of political murder, or suggesting that the USA acts similarly.

“I would say they had a very productive call”, he told reporters.

Had Obama said these words, every conservative in America would have erupted with outrage.

Shedd said that such an approach could involve working to make Europe energy independent and free from relying on Russian oil and gas, or more “provocative” steps like providing Ukrainian forces with anti-tank missiles to defend against attacks from pro-Russian separatists or extending USA anti-missile capabilities to one or more of the Baltic states. “They create warheads, and we can’t”.

As it turns out, we do know some of the contents of that Trump – Putin phone call.

Democrats fired back on Trump’s comments on Thursday.

Trump’s introductory calls to foreign leaders are quickly becoming the subject of both fascination and horror as folks realize that he doesn’t appear to hold any respect for preexisting agreements. Thirteen Republican Senators voted in its favor, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently voiced his support for the treaty during Senate confirmation hearings.

At the time, an affiliate of the Heritage Foundation took the lead in opposing the ratification of the deal.

START expired in 2009 and was nearly immediately followed by negotiations for New START, which was signed by former Russian President Medvedev and former President Barack Obama in 2010 after just a few months of negotiating.

Kimball adds that the opposition to the treaty when it was signed in 2010 seemed to revolve around the perception that the deal allowed Russian Federation to deploy nuclear weapons at a greater rate than the United States and wouldn’t allow the United States to modernize its nuclear arsenal.

Typically, before a telephone call with a foreign leader, a president receives a written in-depth briefing paper drafted by National Security Council staff after consultations with the relevant agencies, including the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies, two former senior officials said.

It is pertinent to mention the public readout of Putin and Trump’s first official call after the inauguration does not mention anything about discussion on the nuclear agreement at all.

This story was last updated at 4:58 p.m.