That Sudden Silence? That's the Intelligence Network Shutting Down.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Do you remember the uproar when word got out that America's intelligence types had warned their colleagues abroad to be careful about what secrets they shared with Washington because they couldn't vouch that the incoming president was beyond Moscow's reach? The Republicans were outraged. How dare they impugn the integrity of the president-elect?

Well that, as they say, was then. This is now and by "now" I mean four months into this presidency and Trump is mired in a scandal due to his apparent leaking to Russia's foreign minister and its ambassador of secret information conveyed from a trusted ally.

Newsweek reports that American intel officials included Israel in that warning.

U.S. intelligence officials reportedly warned their Israeli counterparts to exert caution in sharing top secret information with Donald Trump’s administration for fear of it being passed to Russia and then to Moscow’s ally and Israel’s arch-enemy, Iran.

Discussions between U.S. and Israeli security services prior to Trump’s inauguration on January 20 gave rise to concerns that sensitive intelligence might exchange hands between him and the Russian government, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported in January.

The paper published the report amid accusations of links between Trump’s campaign team and the Russian government. Now, just four months into Trump’s presidency, it has emerged that the commander in chief may have divulged highly classified intelligence to the Russian government.

Whether the report is accurate or not, analysts are clear that the disclosure of Trump’s intelligence slip to the Russians will cause further damage for U.S. intelligence partnerships around the world, where concerns were already present.

“I think very basically I just think it’s going to impact trust issues that have already been negatively affected by Trump,” says Miriam Goldman, analyst at Middle East-based security consultancy LeBec International. “I think there’s going to be a lot of internal questioning about whether or not sharing information with the U.S. can continue.”

The point is clear. Trump is not to be trusted.  And, when the president of the United States can't be trusted, America can't be trusted.

Update:

The New York Times reports that the state secrets Trump passed on to the Russians came from Israel.