Donald Trump denied a bombshell report Thursday that he made a troubling “promise” to a foreign leader that left a whistleblower alarmed, insisting he would never say anything “inappropriate” on such a call.
Trump responded Thursday to a report from The Washington Post that an official in the U.S. intelligence community filed a complaint in August about the president’s communications with a foreign leader.
Trump reportedly made a “promise” on a phone call that the whistleblower found so troubling they filed a complaint to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who marked it of “urgent concern.”
The president denied this report by asking if anyone is “dumb enough” to believe he would “say something inappropriate” to a foreign leader on a phone call since “there may be many people listening” to it. That seemed to be suggesting that he only wouldn’t say anything inappropriate because people are listening in, although he then added that he would “only do what is right anyway.”
Another Fake News story out there – It never ends! Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2019 [1]
….Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially “heavily populated” call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2019 [2]
It wasn’t hard for reporters to fact-check Trump’s assertion that the idea of him saying something inappropriate to a foreign leader is so unbelievable, with The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey recalling the president telling Russian officials in the Oval Office that he fired FBI Director James Comey, a “real nut job,” and that this has now taken “pressure” off himself.
"I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.” He added: "I'm not under investigation." One of the most memorable stories in the Trump White House: https://t.co/o5srYf0gwL [3] https://t.co/Mfjk25rv1c [4]
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) September 19, 2019 [5]
Trump also reportedly revealed highly classified information in a 2017 Oval Office meeting with Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador.
Twitter had some thoughts as well:
President says he would never say anything 'inappropriate to a foreign leader.' But he is ignoring an established record — classified intel to Russians in Oval, telling Putin he didn't believed him over his own spies, signaling KJU he would object to CIA ops on NKorea… https://t.co/9ASfRGqSLc [6]
— Greg Miller (@gregpmiller) September 19, 2019 [7]
Trump's argument is never "I don't commit crimes," it's always "I'm a better criminal than you think I am." https://t.co/A1UI906Xwj [8]
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) September 19, 2019 [9]
"How can it be a crime if I do it in plain sight?"
Don't sell yourself short, Donald. You're dumb enough. https://t.co/DaHeyqZtPy [10]
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) September 19, 2019 [11]
Seriously? Your defense is “how dumb do you think I am?” You divulged highly classified information to the Russians IN THE OVAL OFFICE. So yeah, how dumb do we think you are? Pretty dumb. https://t.co/OAvKKFsV8D [12]
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸 (@aravosis) September 19, 2019 [13]
This is basically an acknowledging that the reason he arranges for private 1-on-1 meetings with foreign leaders, for which few or no American officials are present, is so that he can have a chance to say inappropriate things without being overheard. https://t.co/waSQNYD43R [14]
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) September 19, 2019 [15]