Trump denies being told about Russian bounties to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan
Record ID:
1559443
Trump denies being told about Russian bounties to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan
- Title: Trump denies being told about Russian bounties to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan
- Date: 28th June 2020
- Summary: BABO KHEYL, AFGHANISTAN (FILE - SEPTEMBER 2009) (REUTERS) SOLDIERS LOOKING OUT OVER BERM WIDE OF SOLDIERS IN POSITION BEHIND BERMS SOLDIERS TAKING COVER IN BERM AS ANOTHER SOLDIER YELLS ABOUT SOMEONE BEING "HIT"
- Embargoed: 12th July 2020 15:43
- Keywords: Afghanistan Donald Trump John Bolton Putin Russia Taliban U.S. soldiers troops
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: USA
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA002CKA8WG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: NOTE TO EDITORS: EDIT ADDS NEW TWEET BY US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
President Donald Trump on Sunday (June 28) said he was never briefed about Russian efforts to pay bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan, blasting a New York Times report that he had been told about the rewards but had not acted to respond to Moscow.
The White House on Saturday (June 27) also denied that Trump was briefed on U.S. intelligence regarding the affair but it did not address the merits of the intelligence. The Director of National Intelligence also said Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were not briefed, and called the Times report inaccurate.
"Nobody 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 'anonymous source' by the Fake News @nytimes. Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us," Trump tweeted, calling on the newspaper to reveal its source.
The Times on Friday (June 26) reported that U.S. intelligence had concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit linked to assassination attempts in Europe had offered rewards for successful attacks last year on American and coalition soldiers, and that Islamist militants or those associated with them were believed to have collected some bounty money.
Russia's foreign ministry dismissed the report.
"I've never recalled a circumstance where the president himself goes out of his way to say he wasn't briefed on something," Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton said on NBC's 'Meet The Press.'
Bolton, who left his position in September of last year, did add that he was not familiar with the intelligence cited in the New York Times report.
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