Trump Furious That His Disregarding Of A National Security Briefing Was Leaked To The Press
Trump was given Bold face advice in a national security briefing to NOT congratulate Putin on Putin's victory in the sham Russian election. A note was given to Trump prior to his phone conversation with Putin with "do not congratulate" in large bold print.
Trump, of course went on to congratulate Putin and also talk of a possible meeting with Putin, who is being boycotted by the British in light of the nerve gas attack attributed to the Russians in Britain.
Now, Trump is said to be furious that the ignored national security briefing has been leaked to the media. He wants to fire the person who did it.
The American people have a right to know if the president ignores his daily briefing materials. It is relevant to whether or not we want to trust this person with the safety of our people and our interests.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was warned in briefing materials to refrain from congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election, but he did so anyway, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
Aides included a section in Trump's briefing materials for his Tuesday morning phone call to Putin stating: "DO NOT CONGRATULATE," said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
The White House said in a statement it is a "fireable offense and likely illegal" to leak Trump's briefing papers to the press. The message was first reported by The Washington Post.
It was unclear whether Trump, who prefers oral briefings, read the talking points prepared by his national security team before the call. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster briefed the president in person before the call in the White House residence.
Trump's call of congratulations drew him bruising criticism from members of his own party even before the Post reported that aides had given him instructions not to do so. Trump also said he and Putin might meet "in the not too distant future" to discuss the arms race and other matters.
What they didn't discuss on Tuesday was noteworthy as well: Trump did not raise Russia's meddling in the U.S. elections or its suspected involvement in the recent poisoning of a former spy in Britain.
"An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee and has pressed the Trump administration to respond aggressively to Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election.
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, a frequent Trump critic, called the president's call "odd." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Trump "can call whomever he chooses" but noted that calling Putin "wouldn't have been high on my list."
At the State Department, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it was "no surprise" that Putin was re-elected, commenting that some people were paid to turn out to vote and opposition leaders were intimidated or jailed.
Her comments were notably tougher on Russia than those coming from the White House.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Trump's call and noted that President Barack Obama made a similar call at the time of Putin's last electoral victory.
"We don't get to dictate how other countries operate," Sanders said.
The action and reaction fit a Trump White House pattern of declining to chide authoritarian regimes for undemocratic practices.
Trump himself has long been reluctant to publicly criticize Putin. He said that during their hoped-for meeting the two men would likely discuss Ukraine, Syria and North Korea, among other things.
"I suspect that we'll probably be meeting in the not too distant future to discuss the arms race, to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control, but we will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have," Trump said.
The briefing document with guidance for the Putin phone call is accessible only to a select group of aides, and the White House expressed anger Wednesday that it was leaked to the media.
"If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President's briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal," the White House said in an official statement.
It was an unusual threat. Other revelations of classified material — including partial transcripts of Trump's calls with foreign leaders — have not garnered specific threats of termination or criminal action.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called the leak a "bigger outrage" than Trump's congratulations for Putin. "If you don't like President resign, but this ongoing pattern of duplicity holds potential for serious damage to the nation," he said on Twitter.
Russia has received global condemnation after Britain blamed Moscow for the recent nerve agent attack that sickened Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Russia has denied the accusation.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, was asked by reporters Wednesday about Trump's phone call. The Senate Judiciary chairman said he wouldn't comment specifically about the call, but told CNN. "I think Putin's a criminal. What he did in Georgia, what he did in Ukraine, what he did in the Baltics, in London...That's a criminal activity. I wouldn't have a conversation with a criminal."
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No denial of the existence of the "do not congratulate" memo. Just threats to fire. This is the daily course of this president. Not acceptable.
Nothing that comes out of dumbass trump's mouth surprises me anymore. What a disgrace to the office of the President of the United States.
Glad this information was "leaked"
And to the American people in general. I shudder to think what the world thinks about the American people who would elect that kind of person to be the leader of our country. That he won the Electoral College but not the popular vote does not matter to those who do not understand the difference between the two.
IMHO, history will not treat Trump, his administration or this Congress, kindly.
Centuries from now these years will be taught in schools as the worst administration in American history...if we survive them.
I have no doubt that we will survive long after Trump and this administration and Congress are long gone. Even in this age of technology, the basic majority of the American people are still able to come to terms with and survive it. When even people who are Republicans are aghast at what Trump is doing to our country, it says a lot, to me anyway.
America has survived through more turbulent and destructive times in our country and the world, and I have no doubt that we will not be able to survive this time in our history as well. We are a nation that has been born of turbulence and wars and we managed to survive. We are not quitters, nor will we readily hand over our country to those who wish us ill, or do their best to undermine us.
Trump is his own worst enemy, and he himself will be his own undoing.
Probably, but our country and our democracy will have been much diminished.
I don't think it will really hurt our democracy that much. After all, if our democracy can't stand against this kind of trash and survive in tact, then how could it be considered much of a democracy to start with?
And....after all, we did manage to survive the Bush #2 Presidency. While it was not as bad as Trumps has been, it was a good learning process for the American people. So I think we are well prepared to survive Trumps as well.
There is no comparison between the damage Bush did to the country and Trump is doing. Trump is far worse.
I dunno, JR, Geo. Bush #2 got us into conflict with Iraq and other conflicts in the middle east during his time in the Oval office which cost the US not only a lot in loss of life of our military personnel, but, cost the taxpayers millions, if not more, to fund the war, based on misleading information regarding their WMD provided by his aides.
Trump is really worse as he refuses to listen to any of his advisers and thinks he knows better that anyone else abut everything. He is a fat, pompous, arrogant azz, and the Presidency is nothing more than a little higher version of 'The Apprentice' to him. His loyalty is only to himself and his own family, and America and its people can go kick rocks as far all he cares. And he makes that more than clear every hour of the day.
Bush and his crew were unbelievably bad, Bullshit hallucinated mushroom clouds costing US Trillions, plus "Nation Building"...?, Where the Hell did that come from ( Dick )!
So many great service people were played by peoples with an agenda.
Reminds me of Trump, a lot!
We will survive, but it will take us a long time to get back to something resembling "normal" again. That's why we are going to need a very stable and wise President to guide us through the next 8 years. Someone that will show the young people who have known only Trump that what we are going through his very bizarre time for our nation and is a fluke, a glitch, not normal. That he is not really what Presidents are or how they act. That Presidents have more dignity and respect for the office and are not compulsive liars. That we can actually have one that is worthy of being looked up to, instead of what is inhabiting the Oval Office now. He has done a lot of damage and doubtlessly will do a lot more before he can be forced out and it will take a long time to fix what he has done.
Yep, and we are still paying for it in many ways.
I agree, Randy. It will be hard, and people will need to be very concerned about the damage that has been done in such a short period of time by Trump and his administration. For every one here that cheer and praise Trump with every breath they take, there are 50 times more who are realizing every day what he is doing to out country and are backing away from their support. Even those among his own party, a party he he has no real loyalty what so ever. He just used the GOP for his own agenda and that becomes clear just about every hour every day.
His only loyalty is to himself, yet, he demands loyalty from everyone else. He is not only damaging our own country, but, our relationships with our allies as well. He has made America the laughing stock of world leaders, and seriously damaged our credibility among world leaders while demanding their respect and loyalty for him.
However, just like he is doing all he can to undo the many good things that Obama did for our country, those who replace him will do the same for many of the mistakes he Trump has made. He wants only his own legacy at the WH, but, it will hot be one to be proud of.
Yeah. Leaked by The Kremlin. Putin is obviously far smarter than Trump. Putin knows what plays politically in the US. He played Trump on this and Trump is to afraid to see it. Putin's puppet.
How would the Kremlin know what is in Trump's daily national security briefing?
Do they have someone on the US national security team working for them?
LOCK HIM UP! LOCK HIM UP!
Other than a congrats what did they discuss on the phone? No mention of the interference or the nerve toxin poisoning. Was it more like , hey Vlad can I get that tape now, I have been a good boy and done what you wanted, Stormy might say something about my little fetish and Melania will be mad again.
No offence to anybody or the president, but the info concerning the call from President Trump to President Putin was released from The Kremlin in a press brief. Had The Kremlin not put out this news I wonder if the American Press would know about it?
This information was not "leaked' by WH staffers, it was put forth by The Kremlin.
I don't think the "leak" or Trump's rage about it are the relevant issue but rather Trump's utter incompetence and willful ignorance on foreign policy issues, and his brown-nosing of his Russian handlers.
So why call him so soon after the "election?" Couldn't the phone call wait another week?
With this WH another week is another century.
Perhaps he wouldn't be so angry if he would read his briefings which are written by people smarter then him (a kindergarten class in Washington D.C in crayon and pictures so he can understand them) before he tweets or makes any phone calls or maybe he could just use some COMMONSENSE!!!
He should have just bowed to him./s
Considering how fucked up his White House is he may have leaked it himself and then forgot he did it!