What are the key “Nuclear Secrets” Trump allegedly leaked? Former President Donald Trump has been charged with leaking US secrets numerous times, but the most recent accusations against him centre on crucial information regarding some of the most delicate weapons in the US nuclear arsenal.
What are the key “Nuclear Secrets” Trump allegedly leaked?
According to ABC News and The New York Times, Trump provided Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt with crucial information about the US Navy’s elite submarine fleet, including the number of nuclear warheads they can carry and how near Russian vessels they can approach undetected.
Pratt then shared the information with dozens of friends and contacts.
The alleged disclosure is just the most recent in a long line of incidents that raise serious concerns about Trump’s willingness to protect national security information.
“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.”
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Trump is already defending himself against a federal indictment on 40 counts alleging that he held onto secret documents at his Florida residence after leaving office, revealed information about military strategy to civilians, and obstructed government efforts to recover the documents.
These documents, which contained evaluations from the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, were allegedly left unattended in a restroom and on a stage in a ballroom.
Additionally, early in his presidency in 2017, sources claimed that Trump sent the foreign minister and ambassador of Russia critical intelligence data from Israel.
In a social media post, Trump referred to the submarine charges as “false and ridiculous,” claiming that he had just been informing Pratt that the United States produces the best military hardware worldwide.
He described the assertion as an attempt to sway the outcome.
The reports will also only serve to highlight the profound and rising concern among allies about the US’s ability to keep intelligence secret, particularly if Trump is elected president again.
Allies’ concerns were only reinforced following many purported intrusions by US foes like Russia and China, as well as internal leaks.
“If there’s an information sharing arrangement in effect and then information is disclosed in an inappropriate way, there’s every reason to think that people are going to be reluctant to share,” said Bradley Martin, who retired from the Navy after 30 years and is now a senior policy researcher at RAND Corporation.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorised to publicly discuss it, Pratt is one of more than 80 individuals whom Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office identified as potential trial witnesses in the Florida case involving classified data.
US law enforcement officials reportedly interviewed him at least twice this year, according to ABC.
“Sharing top secret details not only threatens that stealth advantage but puts the lives of Sailors at risk and undermines our national security,” Representative Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat, told Bloomberg News.
If genuine, Trump’s statements, according to experts on US submarine technology, might reveal crucial information about the submarines’ tactical capabilities.
The US Navy won’t confirm or deny whether there are any nuclear weapons or how many there are aboard specific ships.
Furthermore, revealing to others how near US attack submarines may approach enemies could reduce their tactical edge in evading and stalking enemies.
“The sub silencing data is very hush,” said Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists Nuclear Information Project. “People have gone to jail for revealing that kind of information.”
Martin from Rand said he doesn’t think the Navy will suffer as a result of the secrets. He claimed that the quantity of weapons on a US submarine wouldn’t likely surprise adversaries like Russia and that the US is constantly attempting to make submarines quieter, perhaps making Trump’s information out of date.
Martin stated that although the US military will take steps to lessen the damage, “they shouldn’t have to be doing that every 10 minutes.”
