Narjas Zatat
Feb 21, 2017
SAUL LOEB/GETTY
Reports of leaks from the White House has put Donald Trump’s team on the defensive in an effort to dispel rumours that the President is incapable of doing his job.
The latest in a string of leaks which seem to be dripping from the White House, is an audio recording from a party the president hosted at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey in November.
In the audio, which was leaked to Politico, he can be heard saying:
We’re doing a lot of interviews tomorrow – generals, dictators, we have everything
You may wanna come around. It’ll be fun. We’re really working tomorrow. We have meetings every 15, 20 minutes with different people that will form our government.
He can also be heard calling the members of his golf club “the special people”.
There are concerns about who has access to the president and sensitive information, and the recent leak only appeared to exacerbate them.
However doubts about his competency do not end there.
In a mammoth article, the New York Times is reported to have spoken to a number of sources from within the White House. They claimed that aides conduct meetings in the dark because they can’t find the light switch; visitors are left to roam the halls until they find an exit and Donald Trump spends his evenings between Twitter and being angry at cable TV.
The president was forced to defend himself after Australia Sky News sources reported that the president “yelled” at Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a 25-minute phone conversation which reportedly ended with him hanging up.
According to Huffington Post, Donald Trump called his national security adviser, retired Lt Gen Mike Flynn, rather than an economist, about the strength of the American dollar, two sources claimed.
Political leaks are not new.
The Watergate Scandal – which was about a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, and the Nixon administration’s attempts to cover it up – led to president Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974.
In late 2016 leaked letters indicated that David Cameron "discussed the role big business could play in the Remain campaign before he had even completed his re-negotiation deal with European leaders".
Leaks are simply a part of the political landscape. It is however, the sheer volume coming out of the White House that worries people.
And it seems they are not going to stop.
In a column published by Fox News, Bryan Dean Wright, a member of the Democratic Party said:
Multiple reports show that my former colleagues in the intelligence community have decided that they must leak or withhold classified information due to unsettling connections between President Trump and the Russian Government.
With doubts about the US President's ability, and his apparent temper when leaks do come to light, it's clear that there are some within the administration who are worried about the direction America is headed in.
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza summed it up succinctly:
In the long tradition of whistle-blowers, they are using selective leaks to make sure that people know what is really going on inside the White House.
Presumably the incessant leaks out of this White House are pleas for help.
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