Trump denies being briefed about bounties to kill US鈥 Afghan troops
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US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was never briefed on intelligence that Russians offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing US troops.
鈥淣obody briefed or told me, @VP Pence, or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an 鈥榓nonymous source鈥 by the Fake News @nytimes,鈥 Trump tweeted on Sunday morning. 鈥淓verybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us.鈥
Casualty records, however, showed that 2019 was the deadliest year for US service members in Afghanistan since 2014, with 22 troops killed.
Trump鈥檚 tweets echoed the White House鈥檚 Saturday statement, in which Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said several senior officials had confirmed that neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence was briefed on the intelligence.
McEnany also noted that the statement 鈥渄oes not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed.鈥
The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump had been briefed on the intelligence that Russian intelligence units secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan during US-Taliban peace talks.
The story also said the National Security Council discussed the issue at an interagency meeting in late March.
Democrats and former officials cited the story as fresh evidence of Trump鈥檚 disqualification as president.
Former vice president and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden criticized Trump鈥檚 failure to punish Russia as 鈥渁 betrayal of the most sacred duty.鈥
Trump鈥檚 former National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Sunday that Trump鈥檚 morning tweet indicated 鈥渉is fundamental focus is not the security of our forces ... he鈥檚 saying well nobody told me therefore you can鈥檛 blame me.鈥
Others doubted that Trump had not been briefed on the matter. 鈥淚 have trouble believing it, but as someone who got the presidential daily briefing for more than 7 years the idea that a POTUS wouldn鈥檛 be briefed on a Russian bounty on US troops is even more alarming,鈥 tweeted Ben Rhodes, who served as deputy national security advisor in the Obama administration.
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