Trump: Promises Kept / Promises Broken: on Homeland Security

Donald Trump: Ensure U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the top of the pack

Trump said, "I am the first one that would like to see nobody have nukes, but we're never going to fall behind any country, even if it's a friendly country. It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we're going to be at the top of the pack."

Russia has 7,000 warheads and the United States, 6,800. The New START treaty between the US and Russia requires that by February 5, 2018, both countries limit their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to 800 ICBMs for 10 years. Trump called New START "a one-sided deal."

Barack Obama: Don't pursue nuclear warheads with new military capabilities

Currently, the US has just under 5,000 warheads in its active arsenal, and more than 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, a number that fluctuates. In an October assessment by the State Department, Russia has about 400 more nuclear warheads than the US does. But the US has about 170 more delivery systems than Russia.

Under the New START Treaty, the main strategic arms treaty in place, both the U.S. and Russia must deploy no more than 1,550 strategic weapons by February of 2018. Both countries appear to be on track to meet that limit, which will remain in force until 2021, when they could decide to extend the agreement for another five years.

Since [1990], it has been U.S. policy not to build new nuclear warheads. Under President Obama, the policy has been not to pursue warheads with new military capabilities.

Donald Trump: Expand US nuclear capability; we're falling behind

In a tweet that offered no details, Trump said, "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."

During the campaign, Trump talked in one debate about the need to modernize the country's infrastructure of nuclear weaponry, saying the US is falling behind.

Trump's tweet came shortly after Putin, during a defense ministry meeting, said, "We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems."