Officials Say Classified Intel Trump Shared With Russia Came From Israel

The President of the United States apparently has no idea where the reportedly highly classified intel he shared with Russian officials came from, but the New York Times does. A current and former US official told the Times that at least some of the information about ISIS came from Israel:

In the meeting with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister, Mr. Trump disclosed intelligence about an Islamic State terrorist plot. At least some of the details that the United States has about the plot came from the Israelis, the officials said.

The officials, who were not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Israel previously had urged the United States to be careful about the handling of the intelligence that Mr. Trump discussed.

As the Times notes, Israel is one of America’s strongest allies, and especially critical for intelligence-gathering in the Middle East. Trump blabbing about classified secrets to Russia may complicate that relationship:

The revelation that Mr. Trump boasted about some of Israel’s most sensitive information to the Russians could damage the relationship between the two countries. It also raises the possibility that the information could be passed to Iran, Russia’s close ally and Israel’s main threat in the Middle East.

Israeli officials did not comment on the report, but Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer assured the Times that “Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump.”

Now the architect of the Muslim ban is off to Saudi Arabia, where he will, per National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, offer suggestions on how to “unite the broader Muslim world.”