Trump denies conversation with businessman about sensitive information: “He’s a red-haired weirdo” | Abroad

Trump is said to have passed on the information to Pratt during private functions in April 2021. The name of the Australian billionaire was not disclosed in the indictment, but the media reported that the Australian is also a member of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s resort.

The Australian news program ’60 Minutes’ yesterday showed parts of Pratt’s testimony about Trump. “He says outrageous things all the time,” Pratt said. “He knows exactly what he can and cannot say to avoid a prison sentence.”

Trump is also said to have told him about the 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the request to launch an investigation against Joe Biden and his son. According to Pratt, Trump said: “You know the news about the Ukraine phone call. That’s nothing compared to what I usually do.”

In addition, according to Pratt, Trump shared sensitive information about a conversation with the leader of Iraq. “It hadn’t even hit the news yet and he told me he had bombed Iraq,” Pratt claims. The businessman then quoted Trump: “The president of Iraq called me and said, ‘You just razed my city.’ I said to him, ‘What are you going to do about it?’”

Earlier this month, ‘The New York Times’ reported that Trump did not reveal secret information, but would have talked about it. It emerged that he was talking about how many nuclear warheads are on board American submarines and how close the submarines could get to Russian boats without being noticed.

“A red-haired weirdo from Australia,” is what Trump calls the Australian businessman. Trump claims he never discussed nuclear submarines with Pratt. Trump also calls Pratt’s testimony “fake news.” The ex-president denies that he shared sensitive information about nuclear submarines with Pratt. “I did talk to him about creating jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania because that’s what it’s all about for me.”

The two had a good relationship with each other in the past. In 2019, Trump helped the businessman open a new factory in Ohio.

Trump is accused of taking sensitive documents from the White House and storing them at his home. According to the indictment, these include classified documents containing information about the US nuclear capabilities and the country’s military contingency plans.

The FBI had conducted a search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 and seized several documents there. Trump has pleaded not guilty. The trial, the first federal case against the president, is scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024. Pratt is on the witness list.