USA Trump leaks classified information about nuclear submarines

During a conversation at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the former president told Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, among other things, how many nuclear warheads the US Navy’s nuclear submarines usually have, ABC reported on Thursday. (local time).

In April 2021, Trump also said how close nuclear submarines could get to Russian submarines without being detected. Pratt, who runs one of the world’s largest packaging and paper companies, later shared the information with several people, ABC and the aforementioned newspaper. The New York Times Quoted from informed sources.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, there were at least 45 people involved, including six journalists, 11 employees of his company, 10 Australian government officials and three former prime ministers. the The New York Times It quoted sources as saying that Trump’s reckless actions “will likely endanger the US nuclear fleet.”

Pratt heads US-based packaging giant Pratt Industries and is a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf club. Federal prosecutors investigating Trump for storing secret documents at Mar-a-Lago reportedly questioned Pratt twice about the incident, reports said. The Australian can now testify as a witness in Trump’s secret documents trial scheduled for next year.

Submarines for Australia

Special counsel Jack Smith, appointed by the Justice Department, filed an indictment against Trump in June. The former president is accused of illegally storing secret national defense files at Mar-a-Lago. Trump transferred the documents from the White House to Florida at the end of his term in January 2021, and according to the indictment, he later hid them from the reach of the judiciary.

In the now public conversation in April 2021, Pratt is said to have expressed his view to Trump that Australia should buy its submarines from the US in the future. Then the former president leaked information about American nuclear submarines.

Under Trump’s successor Joe Biden, the United States, Australia and Great Britain established the OCOs defense alliance and also decided to conclude a comprehensive submarine deal. Australia wants to purchase up to five nuclear submarines from the USA and, in the long term, build a new generation of nuclear submarines in cooperation with the USA and Great Britain.

Many problems of justice

Trump theoretically faces a long prison sentence in the secret documents case. The 77-year-old Republican, who wants to run again for the presidential elections in November 2024, rejects all accusations and describes the investigation against him as politically motivated. The right-wing populist has already been charged in four criminal cases this year. Two of the charges relate to his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and thus remain in power.

Despite his many judicial problems, Trump is the favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination. He even recently took over as interim Speaker of the US House of Representatives after former Republican President Kevin McCarthy was ousted following an internal party rebellion.

Trump told the right-wing Fox News channel on Thursday that if his party does not quickly agree on a successor to McCarthy, he may take over for a “short period of time.” He gave a time frame of one to three months.

Trump later expressed his support for ultra-conservative Representative Jim Jordan, who is running to succeed McCarthy. The former president wrote on his online platform Truth Social that the current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a close ally of Trump would make a “great” president and have his “full and comprehensive support.” (AFP)