President Donald Trump was so unprepared for calls with the leaders of Russia and Turkey that he regularly threatened U.S. national security while boasting about his achievements, CNN’s Carl Bernstein reported Monday. Over hundreds of calls cited by anonymous sources, Bernstein reports, Trump almost never read briefing material prepared by intelligence agencies and would often take unplanned calls from foreign leaders, flabbergasting top national security advisers. At times, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Trump at least twice a week, and there were standing orders to put the calls straight through to Trump. In regular calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump “mostly talked about himself,” Bernstein reported, while “courting Putin’s admiration and approval.” “[Trump] gives away the advantage that was hard won in the Cold War,” one official told CNN. The Associated Press reported Monday the classified intelligence was included in Trump’s daily briefing at least once during the time.

Source: Huffington Post June 30, 2020 03:56 UTC