Russia has branded reports that Donald Trump revealed state secrets “fake news”.
On Monday, two US officials said the US President disclosed highly classified information to Russia’s foreign minister about a planned Isis operation, plunging the White House into another controversy just months into Trump’s short tenure in office.
The intelligence, shared at a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, was supplied by a US ally in the fight against the militant group, both officials with knowledge of the situation said.
The White House declared the allegations, first reported by the Washington Post, incorrect.
And now the Russian foreign ministry itself has declared the claims fake, according to the Interfax news agency.
Senior Republican Senator Bob Corker said they were “very, very troubling”:
“The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order. Obviously they’re in a downward spiral right now and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening.”
The White House moved quickly to deny the claims.
“The story that came out tonight as reported is false,” H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, told reporters at the White House, adding that the leaders reviewed a range of common threats including to civil aviation.
“At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. The president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known…I was in the room. It didn’t happen,” he said.
The White House also released a statement from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said the Oval Office meeting focussed on counterterrorism, and from Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell, who called the Washington Post story false.
Still, the news triggered concern in Congress.
The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, called Trump’s conduct “dangerous” and “reckless”.
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