It's a punchline from a joke that Reagan told repeatedly around the time of US-USSR weapons treaties. It's supposed to be funny. Something along the lines of:

It's a punchline from a joke that Reagan told repeatedly around the time of US-USSR weapons treaties. It's supposed to be funny. Something along the lines of: "Q: Can we trust these guys to uphold their side of the deal? A: Sure, trust but verify." Edit: here it is, it's actually a funny Russian proverb that Reagan was repeating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify