NYT: Trump revealed US nuclear secrets to Australian businessman

Shortly after leaving office, 45th US President Donald Trump shared apparently classified information about US nuclear submarines with an Australian businessman during an evening conversation at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, according to two people familiar with the matter. in Florida. Writes about this The New York Times.

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That businessman—Anthony Pratt, a billionaire who runs one of the world's largest paperboard companies—subsequently shared secret details about the submarines with several other people, the sources said. According to them, Trump's disclosure of information could jeopardize the US nuclear fleet.

Federal prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith learned that Trump had leaked secrets to Pratt and questioned him as part of an investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents.

Pratt is among more than 80 people prosecutors have named as possible witnesses to testify against Trump in the classified documents trial, which is scheduled to begin in May 2024 in federal district court, according to another person familiar with the matter. court in Fort Pierce (Florida).

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Pratt is not named in Trump's indictment for illegally storing nearly three dozen classified documents after leaving the presidency and then conspiring with two of his aides at Mar-a-Lago to thwart government efforts to get them back.

But the story that Trump cavalierly discussed some of the nation's most sensitive nuclear secrets with him could help prosecutors establish that the president had a long history of carelessly handling classified information.

The availability of witness testimony about this conversation underscores how much additional information the special prosecutor's office could have collected away from prying eyes.

During his conversation with Pratt, Trump revealed at least two critical pieces of information about the tactical capabilities of American submarines, according to people familiar with the matter. We are talking about the number of nuclear warheads these ships carry and how close they can get to their Russian counterparts without being detected.

Apparently, Trump did not show Pratt any secret documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago. Last August, the FBI, after receiving court authorization to conduct a search, seized more than 100 documents containing national security secrets, including those with the highest security classifications.

Trump previously returned hundreds of other documents he took with him from the White House.

Although Pratt has been questioned by prosecutors, it remains unclear whether Trump exaggerated or lied to him, according to people familiar with the matter.

Joe Hockey, Australia's former ambassador to the US, tried to play down Trump's revelations to Pratt.

“If that’s all that’s been discussed, then we already know it,” Hawkey said. “For many years, Australians have served alongside Americans on US submarines, and we use the same technology and the same weapons as the US Navy.”

However, Trump has been known to share classified information verbally and on other occasions. In a 2017 meeting in the Oval Office shortly after firing FBI Director James Comey, Trump told two Russian officials classified intelligence information, according to people familiar with the matter.

In addition, at the beginning of his presidency, he posted a secret photo of the Iranian spaceport on the X site, formerly known as Twitter.

The indictment in the documents case also accuses Trump of showing a secret plan for fighting Iran to a group of patrons at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club. Prosecutors say the recording of the meeting with visitors shows Trump calling the document he was showing "secret."

Since leaving office, Trump has not had access to more recent US intelligence; US President Joe Biden stopped holding briefings with Trump after he left office due to Trump's attempts to overturn the election results, as well as due to the attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters on January 6, 2021. Traditionally, presidents who left office received various information and could help in solving some state matter.

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“I believe there is no need for intelligence briefings for him,” Biden said at the time.

“What's the point of giving him briefings? - he argued. “What influence does he have on the situation other than the fact that he can tell something?”

Trump's interactions with Pratt appear to fit into a pattern of Trump plunging his public office and its secrets into his private interests.

Pratt began maintaining a relationship with Trump as soon as he became president. In 2017, he became a member of the Mar-a-Lago club, then was invited to a state dinner and invited Trump to one of his company's factories in Ohio.

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