President Donald Trump shared highly classified information with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and foreign minister during a White House meeting, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
Current and former U.S. officials told the Post that the information Trump shared jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. The information is so critically sensitive that it has been kept from allies and restricted from U.S. government officials, according to the U.S. sources.
A national security adviser in the meeting, H.R. McMaster, said the president discussed threats to aviation from terrorist organizations. “At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly,” he told the Post.
Throughout the 2016 election, Trump slammed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for their handling of classified information multiple times, as seen with his tweets. Below are just some of the many instances Trump has contradicted himself online, beginning with his assertion that the handling of classified information is “a very big deal.”
150 Clinton E-mails still contain classified information. More sensitive when she was Sec.of State. This is a very big deal.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2015
Fact–Obama does not read his intelligence briefings nor does he get briefed in person by the CIA or DOD. Too busy I guess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2014
VERY IRONIC: “In 2010 video, Clinton lectured underlings on cybersecurity and guarding ‘sensitive information’” https://t.co/dL7VDMqSLy
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2016
Speaking of irony, Trump’s 2016 tweet quoted Comey—and doesn’t look great in hindsight.
Crooked Hillary Clinton and her team “were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” Not fit!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016
Were his actions “very un-American”?
The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by “intelligence” like candy. Very un-American!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
Let’s go back to 2013, when anyone who gave Russia information was a traitor.
Snowden has given serious information to China and Russia-anyone who thinks otherwise is a dope! He is a traitor who fled-he knew the crime!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2013
And again.
Lying traitor Snowden now claims that he did not give any information to the Russians or Chinese. Why doesn’t he come home then?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2013
Trump has yet to address the matter, via Twitter or otherwise.
