Trump and John Kelly Reportedly ‘Furious’ Over ‘DO NOT CONGRATULATE’ Leak

Josh FeldmanMar 21st, 2018, 10:19 am

The revelation that President Trump was given a warning by national security advisers to “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” Vladimir Putin has apparently become the source of much anger in the White House.

Trump was warned not to congratulate Putin on his election victory, and then proceeded to do just that. And it didn’t help that subsequently Sarah Sanders hedged on whether the Russian election was free and fair.

Well, per CNN, both Trump and John Kelly are furious this leaked:

Trump was fuming Tuesday night, asking his allies and outside advisers who they thought had leaked the information, noting that only a small group of staffers have access to those materials and would have known what guidance was included for the Putin call, the source said…

White House chief of staff John Kelly also is furious that a confidential presidential briefing became public knowledge, a White House official said, and intends to address the matter Wednesday as aides try to figure out who disclosed the warning.

The leak has fed into Trump’s belief that there are people around him looking to sabotage him, and one White House official said this to The New York Times this morning:

A senior White House official re the WaPo “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” story tells me: “If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President’s briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal.”

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 21, 2018

Senator Marco Rubio also weighed in by saying while he disagrees with the call, the “bigger outrage” is the leak:

I don’t agree with congratulating #Putin but bigger outrage is this leak that could only come from someone in @POTUS inner circle. If you don’t like President resign, but this ongoing pattern of duplicity holds potential for serious damage to the nation https://t.co/DHwXp63SYx

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 21, 2018