The biggest threat the United States faces is not that of global warming, but of "nuclear warming," Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Trump has repeatedly characterized the foreign policy record of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as a disaster, saying she aggressively pursued wars and the toppling of legitimate governments as part of the US strategy of "regime change."

"[US President Barack] Obama thinks global warming is our biggest threat. I happen to think our biggest threat is nuclear warming," Trump said on Friday night.

Trump warned that the threat of nuclear war was increasing and getting more dangerous, and vowed to make it his priority to reduce the threat if elected to be the next president of the United States on November 8.

"We are going to work very hard on that situation because that situation is getting more and more out of control."

In the 2008 presidential race, Clinton openly talked about or suggested using nuclear weapons against such adversaries as Iran or in dealing with the conflict in Afghanistan.

Trump noted that more recently Clinton had boasted of talking tough to Russia — particularly blaming Moscow for alleged cyberattacks exposing corruption and bigotry within the Democratic Party and the Obama administration — without providing evidence.

Trump also recalled in his speech that Clinton had talked tough about Libya in 2011, and had supported the toppling of the government of Muammar Gaddafi — a policy that left Libya in chaos allowing Islamic extremists to fill in the void.