Key nuclear secrets that former US President Donald Trump allegedly leaked
Trump gave key details on the US Navy’s elite submarine fleet — including the number of nuclear warheads they can carry and how close they can get to Russian vessels without being detected — to Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, who passed the information on to dozens of friends and contacts, according to ABC News and The New York Times. The alleged disclosure is only the latest in a string of cases that raise grave questions about Trump’s willingness to keep the nation’s secrets — an issue that’s only going to remain front and center given his commanding lead in the polls to secure the Republican nomination to challenge President Joe Biden again next year.
“Very few people in the US government know the exact configuration of the nuclear subs," said Joe Cirincione, a security analyst who held the highest clearance level when he worked in Congress on nuclear weapons issues. If true, Trump’s disclosure gets to the heart of US capabilities, he said.
“I never knew the exact payload of our nuclear subs nor the details of our anti-submarine warfare capabilities," Cirincione said. “I did not have a need to know.
The Australian billionaire didn’t have a need to know either." Trump is already battling a federal indictment on 40 counts of allegedly holding on to classified documents at his Florida mansion after he left office, disclosing details of war plans to civilians, and obstructing government efforts to get the documents back. Those documents — which included assessments from the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency — were purportedly left unattended in a bathroom and on a ballroom stage.
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