In answer to your first question, my understanding is that there were advisors in the room from the NSA and CIA who instantly understood the import of the information being disclosed. They immediately contacted NSA and CIA to ameliorate the damage.
In answer to your second question, I doubt he’s doing it intentionally.
Put it this way… when Steve Bannon is backing away from you, it’s probably time to grab the passport and head to Paraguay.
Given the report that WH staffers immediately called the CIA and the NSA to inform them of the problem, the leak could certainly come from somebody at one of those agencies.
How sad it is that I find it totally believable that Trump would want to say something like “I have the best intel. In fact, they give me the most top secret information. In fact, just yesterday they were telling me about a top secret plan by ISIS in (country redacted) to bomb planes using laptops,” to impress the Russians.
The creepiest thing about the photos from that meeting was how happy Trump looked. Just beaming. A normal human would more than likely realize that with everything going on regarding the Russians, it would probably be better to appear serious. But maybe he really was just excited about getting to share some secrets! And, of course, since no U.S. press was there, no one would ever, ever know he even met with them. The Russians wouldn’t tell!
Actually, it sounds like the opposite to me. Everybody knows the Five Eyes share intelligence with us. “An intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive” sounds like it’s a country that doesn’t want anybody knowing they share intelligence with us. Probably another middle-eastern Muslim country, such as Iran decided to share intelligence on a common enemy.
Trump suddenly has a phone call scheduled with King Abdullah II of Jordan tomorrow morning.
I like how Brian Fallon put it.
I think we’ll see this. Trump’s supporters will stick by him, no matter what. However the Republicans realize that if they lose the middle, it will cost them the House in 2018 and the presidency in 2020.
The HuffPost this morning is calling Trump’s action an “overshare”.
There’s a cute neologism for you – “overshare” . It makes me think that someone ought to publish a book – For Presidents who Share Too Much.
Cannot say its good analysis. Sounds like some of the legal memos I have written, when the client specifically requested a way to do something, in this case pretty obvious that the writer went in with “how can I say legally that Trump has done an unlawful act”.
Nations regularly share intelligence with each other, including at times with adversaries. Trump is President of the US. As President of the United States, he has broad authority to conduct relations with foreign powers and he can easily say that he decided that sharing the said information with the Russkies was in the best interests of the US and it would be very difficult to rebut him.
I do wonder sometimes if all these “controversies” are a cleverly executed feint/decoy from what the Administration want to do. Get your enemy to expend their powder on these headline heavy but substance light controversies. All of them have thus far been very bad to listen to but not per se illegal and unlawful.
Certainly, Candidate Trump said so many crazy and outrageous things., which his enemies pounded him for, and Candidate Trump became Nominee Trump who became President Trump, so its clearly not fatal to him.
Maybe he lied to the Russians? Or does he only lie to us?
When we saw those photos, my wife (who pays more attention to expressions and body language than I) said that was the most sincere smile she had seen on his face since he took office.
I’m hoping continued examples of this sort of thing might be viewed as “disloyalty” sufficient to turn off enough of the ignorant mouthbreathers who thought it a good idea to have a blowhard TV personality as president.
Saw something in the paper recently, where Trump referred to himself as having becoming a total TV news junkie since becoming president. Sure, why rely on the actual intelligence sources you have unique access to, when you can simply swallow someone’s simplified spin? :smack:
He *is *when it comes down to it, a real estate salesman.
No, that’s really misinformed.
When a President wants to share intelligence, he doesn’t do it impromptu at a meeting in the Oval with the Ambassador and Foreign minister, with foreign press in the room, without sharing any documents, and then have his staff frantically call the NSA and CIA to tell them he did it while scrubbing any reference to the sharing from the notes of the meeting.
It’s simply nuts to think this leak was some kind of deliberate policy decision. I don’t think that makes a difference to the criminal analysis, but if it does, it will be trivial to prove.
I’m going to assume he lies to us but is honest with the Russians. I say that because he would face consequences for lying to the Russians, there are no consequences when he lies to us.
I’m much more concerned how quickly this leaked. I’ve never seen a situation this bad. Trump can’t make a move without it being splashed in the news. That has to stop.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn other Presidents have shared information to build trust and alliances. Like it or not Russia is a major player in Syria. We need to work with them in order to defeat ISIS. Heck Bush had a great relationship with Putin. Don’t you think they occasionally shared information? That’s how you build trust between two countries.
Whatever Trump’s strategy, it’s been wrecked by plastering it all over the news.
At this rate they should just set up a web cam in the oval office. There’s no respect at all for confidentiality anymore.
It’s a shame he can’t destroy the country in secret.
According to one conservative blogger, the leaks came from a Trump supporter, who was trying to shock Trump into being more careful about how he handles our secrets. i don’t know his reputation for accuracy though. He is a conservative blogger, so I’m going to guess it’s not great.
How quickly it leaked to the press. OK.
You know what was an even faster leak? When Trump informed the Russians. That was fast.
There’s no way of knowing how much planning went into the decision to talk with the Russians.
Absolutely, it could have been Trump’s big unfiltered, mouth.
Or it may have been a calculated decision to build an alliance. That’s the problem with leaks. You only get part of the story. The Intelligence community isn’t going to step forward and clarify anything.
It hasn’t been that long since Bush had a good relationship with Russia. It deteriorated badly under Obama. There’s no winners if the cold war gets even hotter. It’s time to mend the relationship between our countries.
Nothing saying the Russians didn’t leak this either. Why not? They still get the sources identity and get to take another dump in Trump.