Trump Endangers National Security with his Carelessness
- Joe Blakely
- Feb 14, 2017
- 2 min read
U.S. President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and others huddle around documents during the new president's first national security crisis on Saturday. (Photo via Richard DeAgazio/Facebook)
North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile, Saturday, February 11, 2017. According to an Associated Press article, (1) the United Nations Security Council "condemned the Saturday launch and a previous launch on Oct. 19, saying North Korea's activities to develop its nuclear weapons delivery systems violate U.N. sanctions resolutions and increase tensions." It is no coincidence that North Korea timed their launch as United States President Donald Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This is an issue of great importance to the US and Japan, so it was no surprise that Trump and Abe addressed the launch quickly. What is deeply troubling is their outdoor meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida.
An outdoor meeting is extremely careless. It is quite easy for someone with moderate technological skill to record audio, video, or images of sensitive documents at a patio dinner meeting. Trump aides pointed their cellphone flashlights at documents to help Trump and Abe see better. A 13-year old in Des Moines, Moscow, or Tehran could hack the cellphones so conveniently aimed at the documents on the president's dinner table.
Also, it seems informal to the point of disrespect to conduct such an important meeting with a foreign leader in such an informal setting.
Most troubling is that no one on Trump's staff realized why this was a problem, or no one had the guts to speak to Trump and recommend a safer setting. He has surrounded himself with "yes-men" that can't be relied upon to offer him good counsel. Was the outdoor meeting a chance for the ego-centric Trump to score a photo-op, or does it represent the actions of a thoroughly inexperienced, irresponsible and amateurish administration? Such carelessness endangers our national security.
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