First Thing: Trump allegedly shared sensitive information with Australian billionaire
October 25, 2023 ·
Donald Trump with billionaire Anthony Pratt opening a Pratt industries plant in Wapakoneta, Ohio, in 2019. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
First Thing: Trump allegedly shared sensitive information with Australian billionaire
Good morning.
Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with an Australian billionaire, Anthony Pratt, three months after leaving office, according to a new report.
Citing a source with knowledge of the Australian’s account to investigators for the special counsel Jack Smith, the US news outlet ABC News reported an “excited” Trump allegedly discussed “the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads [US submarines] routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected”.
Smith has charged Trump with 40 criminal counts related to his retention of classified information after leaving office. The former president also faces 17 criminal counts regarding election subversion (four federal, from Smith, and 13 in Georgia) and 34 concerning hush-money payments to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels.
Despite Trump’s predicament – also including civil trials for fraud and defamation – he leads Republican presidential polling by wide margins and is the overwhelming favorite to face Joe Biden in the 2024 race for the White House.
