Trust, but verify was a signature phrase

Catch phrase

A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...

 adopted and made famous by U.S. president Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

. Reagan frequently used it when discussing U.S. relations with the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Reagan rightly presented it as a translation of the Russian proverb

Russian proverbs

Russian language proverbs are words of wisdom created in Slavic languages by Slavic peoples. The proverbs originated from oral history and ancient written texts dating as far back as the 12th century...

 "doveryai, no proveryai" . Soviet revolutionary Vladmir Lenin also frequently used the phrase.

The phrase was learned by Reagan from Suzanne Massie

Suzanne Massie

Suzanne Massie is an American author and played an important role in the relations between Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union in the final years of the Cold War. Reagan first became interested in Massie when he read her book Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia...

, a writer on Russia. She told Reagan, "The Russians like to talk in proverbs. It would be nice of you to know a few. You are an actor – you can learn them very quickly".

After Reagan used the phrase at the signing of the INF Treaty

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is a 1987 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. Signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on December 8, 1987, it was ratified by the United States Senate on May 27, 1988 and...

, his counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

 responded: "You repeat that at every meeting," to which Reagan answered "I like it."

Other uses

The similar phrase "Trust and Verify" was also the motto of the On-Site Inspection Agency.

"Trust, but Verify", is also the name of a 2005 book by David Lindgren Trust but Verify: Imagery Analysis in the Cold War, about his experiences with satellite imagery

Satellite imagery

Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites.- History :The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946 took one image every 1.5 seconds...

 during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, and the basics about them.

This phrase was also frequently used by military capital defense attorney Major David Edward Coombs when dealing with government counsel.

During argument before the Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 over the case Doe v. Reed

Doe v. Reed

Doe v. Reed, 561 U.S. ___ , is a United States Supreme Court case which holds that the disclosure of signatures on a referendum does not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Background:...

, the Attorney General of Washington, a Republican, used the phrase in reference to the people verifying public records

Public records

Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the option of checking the box as to whether the marriage is "confidential" or "Public"...

 of petition signers. Justice Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia

Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...

, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, retorted "Trust, but verify. I like that!"

This phrase was loosely used by both President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 and by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal

Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....

 in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...

.

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

, in response to her daughter Bristol Palin

Bristol Palin

Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin is the second child and oldest daughter of former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd....

's second failed engagement with Levi Johnston

Levi Johnston

Levi Keith Johnston is the former fiancé of Bristol Palin. He first received media attention in August 2008 when U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced that her daughter Bristol was five months pregnant with Johnston's baby and that the two were engaged...

 released a statement to People magazine stating, "I wish for Bristol to be able to move forward in life with her same forgiving, gracious, optimistic spirit, but from henceforth she'll know to trust but verify."

In music and entertainment

This phrase is also frequently used by TV actor David Caruso

David Caruso

David Stephen Caruso is an American film and television actor and producer, best known for his role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series CSI: Miami. The role that gained him initial significant recognition was the role of Det...

's character Horatio Caine

Horatio Caine

Horatio Caine is a fictional character and the protagonist in the CBS crime drama CSI: Miami, portrayed by David Caruso. He is currently head of the crime lab, under the rank of Lieutenant of the MDPD.-Fictional character biography:...

 in CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

's television series CSI: Miami

CSI: Miami

CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....

.

This phrase is also used in Season 3 Episode 10 by actor Dennis Haysbert

Dennis Haysbert

Dennis Dexter Haysbert is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, President David Palmer on the American television series 24, and Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the drama series The Unit, as well as his work...

's character Jonas Blane

Jonas Blane

Sergeant Major Jonas Blane is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Unit. He is portrayed by Dennis Haysbert...

 on The Unit

The Unit

The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...

.

This phrase is also used frequently in "The Very Best of Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond

Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....

," a song released in 2009 by Welsh indie psych-rock group The Super Furry Animals.

This phrase is also the title of a song by To Speak of Wolves, the Greensboro, NC-based post-hardcore band.

This phrase has also been attributed to short story writer and journalist Damon Runyon.