Former Republican VP Dick Cheney gave Mike Pence a piece of his mind about Trump's foreign policy

John Locher/AP

Vice President Mike Pence, right, stands on stage with former Vice President Dick Cheney at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual leadership meeting, February 24, 2017, in Las Vegas.

• Former Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly tore into Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump administration during a private gathering of lawmakers, White House officials, and Republican donors.
• Cheney reportedly blasted what he described as President Donald Trump's foreign policy blunders that look "a lot more like Barack Obama than Ronald Reagan."
• "I don't know, that sounded like a New York state real estate deal to me," Cheney said of news reports regarding Trump's suggestion of charging foreign allies a premium for the staging US troops.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly tore into Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump administration during a private gathering of lawmakers, White House officials, and Republican donors, according to multiple news reports on Monday.

Cheney, who is no stranger to criticism for his policies during President George W. Bush's presidency, directed his frustration to his Republican successor, who was at the annual World Forum meeting in Sea Island, Georgia, on Saturday. Around 200 people attended the private retreat, which was hosted by conservative-leaning think tank American Enterprise Institute.

Cheney voiced his concerns over Trump's tendency to announce his decisions by tweet and the news reports that suggests he "doesn't spend that much time with the intel people, or doesn't agree with them," according to The Washington Post.

Trump has made numerous statements during his presidency that have conflicted with assessments from the United States' intelligence and military community.

US National Archives

Former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Trump particularly faced fierce criticism after the US-Russia summit at Helsinki in July, where he appeared to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and cast aside the intelligence community's conclusion that the Kremlin used cyberattacks and other means to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.

"It seems, at times, as though your administration's approach has more in common with Obama's foreign policy than traditional Republican foreign policy," Cheney reportedly said.

Cheney reportedly referenced a Bloomberg report that claimed Trump was formulating a so-called "Cost Plus 50" demand - a plan for foreign allies to reimburse the US for its military presence in the country.

"I don't know, that sounded like a New York state real estate deal to me," Cheney said, according to The Post.

Pence reportedly deflected the criticism with quips of his own. "Well, who wrote these softball questions," he said, according to The Post.

"I think there is a tendency by critics of the president and our administration to conflate the demand that our allies live up to their word and their commitments and an erosion in our commitment to the post-World War II order," Pence added.

"But we think it's possible to demand that your allies do more to provide for the common defense of all of our nations and, at the same time, reaffirm our strong commitment - whether it be to the trans­atlantic alliance or to our allies across the Indo-Pacific."

The two vice presidents remained friendly at the event despite Cheney's stark assessment, according to the news reports.

In 2016, Cheney emerged as a supporter of Trump's presidential campaign. Cheney reluctantly made the decision mostly to support his daughter, Liz Cheney, who was a Republican congressional candidate in Wyoming, according to Politico report in 2016.