Donald Trump and Russia on ISIS (Editorial)
President Donald Trump, accompanied by, from second from left, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, White House press secretary Sean Spicer and National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, speaks on the phone with with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
I strongly disagree with our president sharing sensitive information that is in the hands of the United States. Although he supposedly has the right to do so, did he forget confidentiality?
On May 16, 2017, at 7:03 A.M., Donald Trump finally admitted via Twitter to sharing sensitive and top-secret information with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, in regards to the upholding of top-secret information of ISIS. He stated, “As President, I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled White House meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I wanted Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS and terrorism.”
All this time, Trump has been trying to hide the fact that he had done it even when he stated later, once exposed that “has the right to do it,” but what did he have to hide it for? In addition, he made his executive decision solo; without any suggestions from his staff. After all, it was he who declared Hillary Clinton to be imprisoned after using a private email server to leak top-secret information.
According to FOX News, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic Minority leader stated, “If the reporting is accurate, in one fell swoop, the president could have unsettled our allies, emboldened our adversaries, endangered our military and intelligence officers the world over, and exposed our nation to greater risk.”
While some are concerned about the state of the United States, others are expressing that the scandal is all dramatic. “I think we could do with a little less drama from the White House on a lot of things so that we can focus on our agenda,” stated Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
On the other hand, a Russian spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry had denied that Mr. Trump had given any information and had dismissed the reports on Tuesday. The spokeswoman, Maria V. Zakharova, had considered the event “the latest fake” and said, “Guys, you are again reading American newspapers? You should not read them. They can be used in various ways, but there’s no need to read them—lately, this is not only harmful, but dangerous.”
Disclaimer: Articles designated as “Editorial” represent the views and opinions of the author, not the 2016-2017 Periscope staff, CHS Administration, or the CHS student body.
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Autiana Easley is currently a junior at CHS and this is her second year on the Periscope staff. She has a busy schedule outside of school with three siblings...
