Confusion Grows Over Trump’s Nuclear Plan After Possible Hint of ‘Arms Race’

— -- Donald Trump’s newly announced press secretary tried to clarify his bosses’ stance on nuclear proliferation after a surprising tweet and a reported conversation Trump had with a cable news host.

Questions about President-elect Trump’s stance on nuclear arms had been raised throughout the campaign and arose again Thursday when Trump tweeted that the U.S. “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”

Trump's meaning in the tweet was unclear, and his spokesman and incoming press secretary Sean Spicer addressed the issue in interviews. On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Spicer defended Trump’s speaking out on issues before becoming president, saying that he shouldn’t necessarily follow the examples of some other recent presidents-elect who waited until inauguration to weigh in on foreign and domestic policy.

But more confusion arose when MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski reportedly spoke to Trump by phone -- a conversation that was not broadcast -- after Spicer's interview on the show. Brzezinski and her co-host Joe Scarborough recounted her conversation with Trump on the air afterward.

“Mika asked the president-elect while we had the opportunity what his position was on trying to clarify the tweet yesterday regarding the nuclear arsenal, and the president-elect told you what?” co-host Joe Scarborough said.

“Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass,” Brzezinski said.

“And outlast them all,” Scarborough said.

Spicer gave more interviews this morning after that and when asked about the comment Trump allegedly made to Brzezinski, Spicer told CNN, "That was a private conversation. I was not privy to that."

"But the bottom line is this, the president [elect] is going to put our nation's security and safety first. And he's not going to worry about how it's -- he's going to do it. That's what every American should understand, that he's not going to be a passive president. He's going to be active and make sure that our safety is number one,” Spicer said.

"If another country expands theirs, the United States will act in kind,” he said of nuclear arsenals.

On NBC's "The Today Show," Spicer said, "There's not going to be [an arms race] ... because he is going to ensure other countries get the message that he is not going to sit back and allow that. And what's going to happen is they will come to their senses, and we will all be just fine."

"There [have] been several countries -- Russia among them -- that have talked about expanding their nuclear capability."

ABC News' Alana Abramson contributed to this report.