SYDNEY/WELLINGTON President Donald Trump's alleged disclosure of highly classified information to Russia's foreign minister is unlikely to stop allies who share intelligence with Washington from cooperating, officials said on Tuesday.Some experts added, however, that the reports could undermine trust between partners."If this really happened, it's an unfortunate episode", said Adam Thomson, a former British ambassador to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and now with the European Leadership Network think-tank in London.
The president took to Twitter to counter a torrent of criticism, including from his fellow Republicans, after reports that during a White House meeting he had revealed highly classified information about a planned Islamic State operation.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump revealed to Russia's foreign minister and US ambassador highly classified details from a USA intelligence partner about an Islamic State plot.
The way in which Trump's words contradicted his administration's echoed the fallout over Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey last week.
The revelations could further damage Trump's already fraught relationship with USA intelligence agencies.
Russian Federation has denied such meddling, and Trump bristles at any suggestion he owed his November 8 victory to Moscow. Trump tweeted Tuesday that he did give the Russians information for counterterrorism purposes, noting that he has the "absolute right" to do so. "Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russian Federation to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism", Trump tweeted.
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Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for Congress to have immediate access to a transcript of Trump's meeting with the Russians, saying that if Trump refuses, Americans will doubt that their president is capable of safeguarding critical secrets. The FBI concluded after an investigation previous year that there were no grounds to pursue any charges against Clinton.
Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio said he'd reached out to the White House for answers.
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He also stressed that no USA representatives who were in the room during the meeting thought Trump's comments to the Russians were problematic, going on later to say that what the president shared was "nothing you would not know from open source reporting". They said it was considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the US government.
The news reverberated around the world as countries started second-guessing their own intelligence-sharing agreements with the U.S. Ryan's office said he hoped for a full explanation, while McConnell told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday he wished for a little less drama from the White House.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans alike expressed concern about the president's disclosures. Sen. Senator Susan Collins said on Tuesday that even though the president has legal authority to disclose classified information, "it would be very troubling if he did share such sensitive reporting with the Russians".
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