In his January call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump condemned a 2010 nuclear arms-reduction treaty as a bad deal for the U.S., Reuters reported Thursday.

Asked by Putin about the possibility of extending the treaty capping U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads — known as New START — Trump reportedly paused to ask his aides what the treaty was, two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official briefed on the call told Reuters.

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He then told Putin it was one of a number of bad deals negotiated by former President Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaBiden makes supporters nervous; his gaffes could derail him Difference between primaries and caucuses matters in this election Harris apologizes and says she didn't hear questioner call Trump policies 'mentally retarded' MORE and that it favored Russia, before launching into a conversation about his own popularity, according to the sources.

The official White House summary of the Jan. 28 call does not mention any discussion of the agreement.

The White House has disputed the notion that Trump didn't know what the treaty was, saying that Trump was familiar with it but was asking his team for an “opinion” on the subject.

“It wasn’t like he didn’t know what was being said,” Press Secretary Sean Spicer told a group of reporters Thursday afternoon. “He wanted an opinion on something, which is … very different."

The treaty gives both countries until 2018 to cut their strategic nuclear missile launchers to 1,550 — the lowest number in decades — and limits numbers of land- and submarine-launched missiles and heavy bombers.</s>ABC late-night star Jimmy Kimmel noted on his show that President Donald Trump can’t seem to make up his mind whether he knows Putin, or does not. He compiled the footage, to help POTUS figure it out.

Trump got angry at some reaction to his pre-Super Bowl interview with FNC’s Bill O’Reilly. In the interview, he said he respected Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, who he seemed to defend, in a roundabout way, when O’Reilly mentioned Putin “is a killer” by saying there are plenty of killers around and that the U.S. is not to innocent on that front. Trump tweeted:</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In his first call as president with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States, according to two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official with knowledge of the call.

When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was, these sources said.

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Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said.

The White House declined to comment on the details of the call. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump knew what the New START treaty is but had turned to his aides for an opinion during the call with Putin. He said the notes from the call would not have conveyed that.

“I would say they had a very productive call,” Spicer told reporters. He added, “It wasn’t like he didn’t know what was being said. He wanted an opinion on something.”

It has not been previously reported that Trump had conveyed his doubt about New START to Putin in the hour-long call.

New START gives both countries until February 2018 to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550, the lowest level in decades. It also limits deployed land- and submarine-based missiles and nuclear-capable bombers.

During a debate in the 2016 presidential election, Trump said Russia had “outsmarted” the United States with the treaty, which he called “START-Up.” He asserted incorrectly then that it had allowed Russia to continue to produce nuclear warheads while the United States could not.

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Two Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senators Jeanne Shaheen and Edward J. Markey, criticized Trump for deriding what they called a key nuclear arms control accord.

FILE PHOTO: A billboard showing a pictures of US president-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen through pedestrians in Danilovgrad, Montenegro, November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Stevo Vasiljevic/File Photo -

“It’s impossible to overstate the negligence of the president of the United States not knowing basic facts about nuclear policy and arms control,” Shaheen said in a statement. “New START has unquestionably made our country safer, an opinion widely shared by national security experts on both sides of the aisle.”

Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington-based advocacy group, said: “Unfortunately, Mr. Trump appears to be clueless about the value of this key nuclear risk reduction treaty and the unique dangers of nuclear weapons.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he supported the treaty during his Senate confirmation hearings.

During the hearings Tillerson said it was important for the United States to “stay engaged with Russia, hold them accountable to commitments made under the New START and also ensure our accountability as well.”

Two of the people who described the conversation were briefed by current administration officials who read detailed notes taken during the call. One of the two was shown portions of the notes. A third source was also briefed on the call.

Reuters has not reviewed the notes taken of the call, which are classified.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CONCERNS OVER PHONE CALLS

The phone call with Putin has added to concerns that Trump is not adequately prepared for discussions with foreign leaders.

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.

Just before the call, the president also usually receives an oral “pre-briefing” from his national security adviser and top subject-matter aide, they said.

Trump did not receive a briefing from Russia experts with the NSC and intelligence agencies before the Putin call, two of the sources said. Reuters was unable to determine if Trump received a briefing from his national security adviser Michael Flynn.

In the phone call, the Russian leader raised the possibility of reviving talks on a range of disputes and suggested extending New START, the sources said.

New START can be extended for another five years, beyond 2021, by mutual agreement. Unless they agree to do that or negotiate new cuts, the world’s two biggest nuclear powers would be freed from the treaty’s limits, potentially setting the stage for a new arms race.

New START was ratified by the U.S. Senate in December 2010 by a vote of 71 to 26. Thirteen Republican senators joined all of the Senate’s Democrats in voting for the treaty, although Republican opponents derided it as naive.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L-R), joined by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, senior advisor Steve Bannon, Communications Director Sean Spicer and National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The call with Putin was one of several with foreign leaders where Trump has turned to denounce deals negotiated by previous administrations on trade, acceptance of refugees and arms control.

In a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump questioned an agreement reached by the Obama administration to accept 1,250 refugees now being held by Australia in offshore detention centers.</s>In his first call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States, Reuters reports.

“When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was… Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia.”

“Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said.”</s>Reuters reports that Trump didn’t know what New START was, but was sure it must be a bad deal:

In his first call as president with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States, according to two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official with knowledge of the call. When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was [bold mine-DL], these sources said. Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration [bold mine-DL], saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said.

The account rings true, and it fits in with Trump’s views on agreements made during the Obama years. If an agreement was reached with another government when Obama was president, Trump takes it for granted that it must be a bad deal that benefits the other side more. This is what he always thinks about deals not made by him, and it is typically paired with total ignorance of the substance of the agreement that he is criticizing. This is how he concludes that the nuclear deal is a “very bad deal” despite the fact that he appears to understand nothing about it and gets basic facts about it wrong. He doesn’t concern himself with the details because he already knows that the deal must be to our disadvantage, since he takes it as a given that the U.S. has been getting “ripped off” in everything. The result is that the supposed deal-maker is against any successful diplomatic agreement that has already been negotiated.

In the case of New START, it was conventional hawkish boilerplate back in 2009-2010 that Russia benefited more from the treaty, but this wasn’t true. It represented the continuation of a mutually beneficial arms reduction process, and it ensured that reductions by both sides would be verified by inspections. Romney made a point of denouncing the treaty ahead of his second presidential campaign, and he made his opposition to the treaty a major part of his anti-Russian/anti-Obama rhetoric as a candidate. If Trump is now echoing the shoddy arguments against New START, that suggests that he doesn’t understand that arms control is one of the major areas where U.S.-Russian cooperation is very important, and it also means that he is getting very bad advice from the same kinds of people that Romney was listening to back then. That’s bad news for improving relations with Russia.</s>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. For example, he had an unorthodox conversation with the Taiwan president, which ruffled some feathers as he declined to honor the One China principle. He also had a not-so-good call with the Australian prime minister while slamming “the worst deal ever” concerning refugees. And according to Reuters, even Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t go off without a hitch as previously assumed, particularly when it came time to discuss nukes.

Reuters reports that Trump spent part of his hour with Putin bragging about his popularity, although that seems like a standard move from all the reports these calls have produced. In addition, Trump denounced the existing U.S.-Russia treaty (New START) as “a bad deal,” although he had to ask his team — during the call — to educate him about the treaty. Oh boy:

In his first call as president with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States, according to two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official with knowledge of the call. When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was, these sources said. Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said.

Officially, the White House wouldn’t comment, although previous accounts of this call never mentioned nukes or the New START deal. This agreement, which went into effect under Obama, required both countries to power down to “1,550 nuclear warheads on deployed” intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2018. Putin wanted an extension, and Trump apparently drew a blank. This conversation happened months after both men were signaling an increase in their respective countries’ nuclear capabilities, and Trump was casually tossing out “arms race” while discussing the matter.

If Trump really trashed a nuke deal without even knowing any details, that’s disturbing enough on its own. However, Reuters floats the suggestion that Trump did not even prepare for the Putin call, which is a growing concern about his conversations with other leaders. Is he relying on his ability as a negotiator to carry him though the nuances of foreign policy? There’s something to be said about on-the-job experience, but when one is dealing with the fate of the globe, that concept kinda flies out the door.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In his first call as president with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States, according to two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official with knowledge of the call.

When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was, these sources said.

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Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said.

The White House declined to comment. It referred Reuters to the official White House account issued after the Jan. 28 call, which did not mention the discussion about New START. It has not been previously reported that Trump had conveyed his doubt about New START to Putin in the hour-long call.

New START gives both countries until February 2018 to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550, the lowest level in decades. It also limits deployed land- and submarine-based missiles and nuclear-capable bombers.

During a debate in the 2016 presidential election, Trump said Russia had “outsmarted” the United States with the treaty, which he called “START-Up.” He asserted incorrectly then that it had allowed Russia to continue to produce nuclear warheads while the United States could not.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he supported the treaty during his Senate confirmation hearings.

During the hearings Tillerson said it was important for the United States to “stay engaged with Russia, hold them accountable to commitments made under the New START and also ensure our accountability as well.”

Two of the people who described the conversation were briefed by current administration officials who read detailed notes taken during the call. One of the two was shown portions of the notes. A third source was also briefed on the call.

Reuters has not reviewed the notes taken of the call, which are classified.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The phone call with Putin has added to concerns that Trump is not adequately prepared for discussions with foreign leaders.

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.

READ MORE: Donald Trump urged to stop making nice with Russia

Just before the call, the president also usually receives an oral “pre-briefing” from his national security adviser and top subject-matter aide, they said.

Trump did not receive a briefing from Russia experts with the NSC and intelligence agencies before the Putin call, two of the sources said. Reuters was unable to determine if Trump received a briefing from his national security adviser Michael Flynn.

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In the phone call, the Russian leader raised the possibility of reviving talks on a range of disputes and suggested extending New START, the sources said.

New START can be extended for another five years, beyond 2021, by mutual agreement. Unless they agree to do that or negotiate new cuts, the world’s two biggest nuclear powers would be freed from the treaty’s limits, potentially setting the stage for a new arms race.

READ MORE: Donald Trump says only ‘stupid’ people don’t want ties with Russia

New START was ratified by the U.S. Senate in December 2010 by a vote of 71 to 26. Thirteen Republican senators joined all of the Senate’s Democrats in voting for the treaty, although Republican opponents derided it as naive.

The call with Putin was one of several with foreign leaders where Trump has turned to denounce deals negotiated by previous administrations on trade, acceptance of refugees and arms control.

In a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump questioned an agreement reached by the Obama administration to accept 1,250 refugees now being held by Australia in offshore detention centers.</s>President Donald Trump bragged about his popularity and dismissed the New START nuclear reduction treaty as a bad deal for the U.S. during his phone call last weekend with Russian President Vladimir Putin, three U.S. officials familiar with the conversation told Reuters:

When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was, these sources said. Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said. The White House declined to comment. It referred Reuters to the official White House account issued after the Jan. 28 call, which did not mention the discussion about New START. [Reuters]

New START is a 2010 treaty that required the United States and Russia to reduce their respective nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550 by February 2018, which would be "the lowest level in decades," Reuters reports. Additionally, both parties would curb deployed land and submarine missiles and nuclear-capable bombers.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump also criticized the treaty, although his misidentified it as "START-Up" and falsely alleged that it allowed Russia to continue to make warheads while the United States could not. Jeva Lange</s>Thursday afternoon, Reuters reported that Donald Trump interrupted a phone call with Vladimir Putin to ask a basic question about US-Russia relations. Specifically, he asked what New START, a nuclear arms agreement inked by the Obama administration, was. Once he heard the basics, he immediately informed Putin that he was against it.

“When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was,” the Reuters reporters, Jonathan Landay and David Rohde, write. “Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity.”

Three things stick out about this report, presuming it’s accurate (both Rohde and Landay are skilled veterans of the national-security beat, and the White House has declined to comment on the report both to Reuters and when asked during a subsequent press briefing). The first is that Trump still clearly does not know basic facts about American foreign policy, like the name of a major treaty — and that this somehow leaked to the press from one of his top advisers, the only people in the room for the Putin call.

The second is that the president seems willing to make major policy changes anyway. Trump had referenced New START in an October presidential debate, though he called it “start up” and incorrectly suggested that it limited American nuclear warhead construction without similarly capping Russia’s. (The deal actually caps each country’s number of deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550.)

Months later, after winning the presidency and having daily national security meetings, Trump still doesn’t know the treaty’s name. But he decided to come out against it anyway after getting quick refresher while Putin was on hold.

Finally, the comments seem to contradict stuff Trump has said recently about nuclear weapons. Just days before his inauguration, Trump said in an interview that he hoped to work with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to reduce both countries’ nuclear arsenals.

“Let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia,” Trump said at the time. “For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially.”

Those comments, in turn, directly contradicted a December tweet, where he said that the US “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.” Afterwards, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski asked him about the possibility of this policy setting off an arms race with Russia (which is also talking about modernizing its nuclear arsenal). She recalls Trump’s answer being simple.

“Let it be an arms race.”</s>Report: Trump Criticized Obama-Era Nuclear Arms Deal During Call With Putin

A new report claims President Trump told Vladimir Putin that an Obama-era treaty with Russia that caps the deployment of nuclear warheads was “a bad deal.”

According to Reuters, Trump criticized the 2010 treaty — known as New START — in an hour-long call with Putin because he said it favored Russia, and that it was “one of several bad deals” made by Barack Obama.

The treaty came up when Putin “raised the possibility of extending” it, two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official with knowledge of the call told Reuters.

New START requires the United State and Russia to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 by February 2018.

During an interview with the Times in January, Trump said he hoped to strike a deal with Putin over nuclear arms.

“They have sanctions on Russia — let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia,” Trump said in January. “For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it. Russia’s hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are going to benefit.”

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When Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the January telephone conversation with President Donald Trump, raised the possibility of extending the 2010 New START treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads, President Trump declined, stating that this treaty is a bad deal for the United States.