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Former US president Donald Trump allegedly disclosed classified information on US submarines to Australian packaging mogul Anthony Pratt in April 2021, according to a report published by America\u2019s ABC News.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s alleged that Pratt relayed the information to \u201cscores of others\u201d including \u201cmore than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and a handful of journalists\u201d, ABC News reported.<\/p>\n
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Anthony Pratt, then-Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and then-US president Donald Trump at a Pratt factory in Ohio in 2019.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n Pratt, who runs packaging firm Pratt Industries, allegedly spoke to Trump during an April 2021 meeting, five months before the US, Australia and UK announced the formation of AUKUS, an extensive defence alliance under which Australia will buy US built nuclear-powered submarines.<\/p>\n The alleged disclosure was said to be reported to special counsel Jack Smith\u2019s team as it investigates Trump\u2019s storing of classified documents at his Florida home Mar-a-Lago, ABC US reported, citing \u201csources familiar with the matter\u201d.<\/p>\n ABC US reported that prosecutors and FBI agents have interviewed Pratt, who is a member of Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago club, at least twice.<\/p>\n \u201cPratt told Trump he believed Australia should start buying its submarines from the United States, to which an excited Trump \u2013 \u201cleaning\u201d toward Pratt as if to be discreet \u2013 then told Pratt two pieces of information about US submarines: the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads they routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected,\u201d sources told ABC US.<\/p>\n Pratt then allegedly described Trump\u2019s comments to \u201cat least 45 others, including six journalists, 11 of his company\u2019s employees, 10 Australian officials, and three former Australian prime ministers\u201d, sources allegedly told ABC US News.<\/p>\n The alleged disclosure, if confirmed, sheds new light on the impact of Trump\u2019s decision to remove classified documents from the White House after he left the presidency in 2021.<\/p>\n Comment has been sought from Pratt Industries.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the special counsel\u2019s office declined to comment on the report or confirm whether Pratt had been interviewed over the alleged disclosures.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI in August 2022, as they searched for documents the former president removed from the White House.<\/p>\n In June, the former president was charged on 37 criminal counts for mishandling classified documents \u2013 from secret information relating to nuclear programs to intelligence that should have only been shared with the \u201cFive Eyes\u201d countries, including Australia.<\/p>\n