Trump Blasts People “Dumb Enough to Believe” He’d Act Inappropriately With a Foreign Leader

His tweets follow a report of a whistleblower’s claim that Trump made an alarming promise to a leader from abroad.

John Gibbins/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

What did President Donald Trump promise a foreign leader?

That’s the question rattling Washington this morning after an explosive report late Wednesday in the Washington Post detailed a whistleblower’s claim that the president made an alarming offer to a yet-unknown foreign leader that prompted a US intelligence official to file a formal complaint with the inspector general.

The revelation isn’t exactly extraordinary for this president. Trump did, after all, kick off his presidency by disclosing highly classified information to the Russians while chatting in the Oval Office. Last month, he shared what appeared to be a sensitive satellite image on his Twitter account. In between, the president has repeatedly sidelined the intelligence community in favor of foreign interests.

But who’s keeping track? On Wednesday morning, Trump blasted “anybody dumb enough to believe” he’d make such disturbing commitments to a foreign leader. In denying the Post’s report, Trump appeared to assert that he would not have acted inappropriately while others were listening.

Meanwhile, in a closed-door briefing Thursday morning, Trump’s handpicked inspector general of the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, refused to disclose to lawmakers information on the whistleblower’s complaint—a standoff that once again has Democrats demanding to know whether the administration is covering up on behalf of the president.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate