Trump Blurts Out Nuclear Secrets
On This Day In 2017
“Loose lips sink ships” was the World War II-era expression encouraging ordinary Americans not to discuss secrets because you never know when the enemy spies were listening. It turns out that in the Trump era our enemies don’t even need spies, they can simply listen to what our president voluntarily tells them.
OTDI 2017, Trump had a routine call with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. The transcript reveals that, for some unknowable reason, Trump decided to disclose to Duterte the location of two American nuclear submarines off the coast of North Korea—just a few days after Trump warned about an imminent war with North Korea. That’s the kind of thing which can put people on edge, you know?
You know who else didn’t know the secret location of those nuclear subs? The U.S. Navy command! Often, these locations are so sensitive they're kept even from them.
Duterte was considered among the world’s most brutal, pugilistic leaders. Trump has a long history of cozying up to, and envying, strongmen like him. Did Trump disclose our secrets to Duterte because he was star-struck? It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time he'd given our most valuable secrets to other leaders.
Apparently, this wasn't even the only time Trump blurted out highly sensitive info about our nuclear subs. CBS News reports that he told Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt about the classified military capabilities of our subs while they were hanging out in Florida. If there’s one type of guy Trump loves sucking up to as much as a blood-thirsty dictator, it’s an actual billionaire.
Dive Deeper
The Jan. 29th OTDI notes that Trump has explicitly ignored security clearance issues and is considered to be a security threat to the United States of America due to his inability to control himself.
Read the transcript of the phone call with Duterte
CBS News reports on Trump’s other slip up about nuclear submarines
Programing note: Mark your calendars for May 10 and August 30. Those OTDIs will focus on other occasions when Trump simply handed our nation's most important secrets (literally, directly!) to our enemies.