White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany answers questions during a press briefing at the White House. Photo / AP
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany answers questions during a press briefing at the White House. Photo / AP
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Donald Trump is the "most informed person on planet Earth" when it comes to the threats the United States faces.
During an overnight press briefing, she was asked why the President doesn't read his President's Daily Brief (PDB), after reports Russia was paying Taliban militants to kill US soldiers was included in one of them.
The question was prompted after Trump insisted he had no prior knowledge of the matter.
The PDB is a document produced each day for the President containing the US government's latest secrets regarding national security.
.@PressSec Kayleigh McEnany: "The president does read and he also consumes intelligence verbally. This president, I'll tell you, is the most informed person on planet Earth when it comes to the threats that we face."
"The President does read," said Ms McEnany shot back at the question.
"He is constantly being informed and briefed on intelligence matters. The President is the most informed person on planet Earth when it comes to the threats that we face."
The New York Times, citing two unnamed officials, reported the President had received a written briefing about the bounties at the end of February, undercutting his assertion that he was not told of the threat.
McEnany also hit out at the Times for publishing the leak from an anonymous intelligence officer, saying there is "no good scenario" as a result of the report.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany answers questions during a press briefing at the White House. Photo / AP
"Who's going to want to co-operate with the United States intelligence community?" she asked. "Who's going to want to be a source or an asset if they know that their identity could be disclosed?
"Which allies will want to share information with us if they know that some rogue intelligence officer can go splash that information on the front page of a major US newspaper?"
Democrats demanded more information from intelligence officials on Tuesday, as questions have been raised about Trump's degree of involvement with sensitive files and the attention he pays to the confidential documents sent to him.
The White House said on Monday the claim had been kept from Trump because the intelligence underpinning it was unverified.
President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks on the South Lawn after arriving on Marine One at the White House. Photo / AP
Democrats asked John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, and CIA director Gina Haspel to provide more information and to explain why Congress had not been briefed on the issue.
"We need to know whether or not President Trump was told this information, and if so, when," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday.
With Trump, "all roads lead to Putin," said Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Suspicion towards the President stems from his campaign trail promise to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as from suspected collusion between the Kremlin and Trump's election team that has occupied attention for most of his term.
