(NewsNation) — Not many people know the full capabilities of the American nuclear arsenal, but according to a new report, former President Donald Trump revealed those highly sensitive secrets to a foreign national shortly after he left the White House.
Per ABC News, “Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago club — an Australian billionaire.”
The billionaire, identified in the report as Anthony Pratt, who runs U.S.-based Pratt Industries, one of the world’s largest packaging companies, then allegedly shared the information with scores of others, according to sources cited in the report.
According to Pratt’s account, as detailed in the report, Trump told Pratt two pieces of information about U.S. submarines: “The supposed exact number of nuclear warheads they routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected.”
The disclosure was reported to special counsel Jack Smith’s team as it investigated Trump’s alleged hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the sources told ABC News.
Trump responded to the report Friday, calling the claim “false and ridiculous.”
“The ridiculous story put out today about me talking to a Mar-a-Lago member about U.S. Submarines, is false and ridiculous,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “These fake stories are put out by corrupt prosecutors trying to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024.”
Marc Lotter, “The Hill on NewsNation” panel member and chief communications officer for America First Policy Institute, weighed in on the report, saying the former ambassador to the United States from Australia knows all of this.
“Australian sailors actually sail on our submarines. We’re selling them our nuclear submarine so they can help counteract China,” Lotter said.
“The Hill on NewsNation” panel member A. Scott Bolden, former D.C. Democratic Party chairman, said the issue is Trump gave the information to a citizen, “a very wealthy citizen member of his member of Mar-a-Lago.”
“We know he’s been taped sharing and bragging about similar information,” Bolden said. “Because that’s what he got indicted on. And so it’s disturbing.”
It’s unclear if Trump’s information was accurate, but Smith’s team investigated the incident.
Smith did not include any information about the alleged conversation with Pratt in his indictment against Trump, which charged the former president with 40 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information and obstruction-related offenses.