President Trump’s already strained relationship
with the U.S. intelligence services took
another blow this week after it was reported
that he had disclosed highly classified information
about an ISIS plot to Russian diplomats
visiting the White House. During the
Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Kremlin’s
ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak,
Trump revealed that ISIS had used stolen airport
security equipment to test a bomb that
could be hidden in a laptop and sneaked into
an airplane cabin, U.S. intelligence officials
told NBC News. The president also disclosed
the name of the city where the intelligence
was gathered. “I get great intel,” Trump told the Russians, according
to The Washington Post. The intelligence, reportedly gathered
by Israel, was meant for U.S. eyes only. Given the clues Trump provided,
Russia could easily identify the source of the information, a
former U.S. intelligence official told the Post. Countries will “think
twice before sharing sensitive information after an event like this,”
said Michael Herzog, a former Israeli intelligence officer. Trumpdefended his revelation of the plot, saying on Twitter that he had
“the absolute right” to do so and that he’d wanted to persuade the
Russians “to greatly step up their fight against ISIS.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said it was no longer clear
whether Trump could be trusted with the nation’s “most closely
kept secrets,” and called on the White House to release a transcript
of the meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if Trumpconsented, he would hand over Lavrov’s transcript. Republican
members of Congress expressed dismay over the incident. The White
House, said Sen. Bob Corker, is “in a downward spiral right now.”
As president, “Trump has the legal authority to share intelligence
with pretty much whomever he wants,” said the Los Angeles Times.
But that doesn’t make his blabbing “right or smart.” If Israel and
other allies stop sharing sensitive information about terrorist plots
with the U.S., American lives will be put in danger. It’s ironic that
Trump came to power partly by claiming that his opponent “had so
badly mishandled classified information that she deserved to go to
jail.” What should we think now that the
president has been accused of releasing critical
state secrets?
Evidently the president “said too much
out of carelessness or bravado,” said the
Washington Examiner. Trump simply can’t
grasp the gravity of the situation. “When
he was merely a billionaire celebrity real
estate developer he could afford to throw
his weight around or be indiscreet.” But
now Trump’s “every word carries immense
clout,” something “Republicans, conservatives,
and patriots of all stripes” need to
make sure he understands.
Trump has done nothing wrong, said Ted Galen Carpenter in
TheAmericanConservative.com. His critics are so consumed by
“anti-Russia hysteria” that they can’t understand why the president
might have thought it important to discuss the plot with Lavrov and
Kislyak. “Russia has been the victim of Islamic terrorist attacks on
several occasions and is a de facto ally in the war against ISIS.” By
informing Moscow about this new jihadist threat, the U.S. is more
likely to secure the Kremlin’s cooperation in tackling other international
challenges like North Korea.
But “Russia is an enemy” of the U.S. and Israel, said Alan Dershowitz
in TheHill.com. Putin backs Syria’s genocidal leader, Bashar al-
Assad, and is good friends with the mullahs who rule Iran and their
Lebanese terrorist puppet, Hezbollah. Assad, Iran, and Hezbollah
are all violently anti-American and committed to the destruction of
the Jewish state. Whatever intelligence Trump provided Russia might
“end up in the hands of these enemies of peace and stability.”
Still, “this doesn’t look like collusion with the Russians,” said Eli
Lake in Bloomberg.com. “Collusion” suggests that the information
shouldn’t be shared, but we do want the Russians to know about
terrorist threats against airlines—just as long as intelligence is passed
along carefully. Indeed, “both of Trump’s predecessors pursued
sensitive counterterrorism partnerships with Putin.” Yet there’s little
comfort to be found in the most likely explanation for this momentous
gaffe: “The president is bad at his job. Stupid trumps sinister.”