Donald Trump has been briefed that a nuclear war would be a "bad thing", which he said “would be like no other”.
The US President said he wanted to “do the right thing for the world” by building a relationship with Russia in an attempt to avoid a “nuclear holocaust”.
Asked during a press conference about his stance on Russia, Mr Trump said: “I want to do the right thing for the American people and to be honest, secondarily, I want to do the right thing for the world.
“If Russia and the United States actually got together and got along…and don’t forget we’re a very powerful nuclear country and so are they…there’s no upside…we’re a very powerful nuclear country and so are they."
He added: “I’ve been briefed…and I can tell you one thing about a briefing that we’re allowed to say …because anybody who ever read the most basic book can say it…nuclear holocaust would be like no other.”
The Republican denied Vladimir Putin was testing him – despite Russia's recent deployment a new cruise missile and a spy vessel being sent to lurk off the US coast. Two Russian fighter jets were also reported to have flown dangerously close to a US Navy ship in the Black Sea.
Mr Trump said: “If you were Putin right now, you’d say ‘We are back to the old games with the US. There’s no way that Trump can do a deal with us.
He added: “Putin probably assumes that he can’t make a deal with me anymore because politically it would be unpopular for a politician to make a deal – I can’t believe I’m saying I’m a politician but I guess that’s what I am now.
“I don’t know if we’re going to make a deal. We might, we might not.”
