Trump claims leaked audio about Pentagon plans was about a golf course
Trump now claims leaked audio tape of him allegedly showing guests classified Pentagon documents was ‘just bravado’ and that the ‘plans’ he discussed were for a golf course
- Donald Trump reportedly showed a writer classified plans about Iran in 2021
- The former US president, 77, pleads not guilty to total of 37 felony charges
Donald Trump has now claimed a leaked audio tape of him allegedly showing guests classified Pentagon documents was ‘just bravado’ and that the ‘plans’ he discussed were actually for a golf course.
The former US president, 77, is facing a total of 37 felony charges for allegedly illegally retaining classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after his term in office ended. Trump pleads not guilty to the charges.
The indictment says Trump possessed a classified battle plan against Iran, which he reportedly showed a writer and publisher working on a book on July 21, 2021 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Now, in an interview with Fox News, Trump said that any mention of ‘plans’ were just about building another golf course – of which he already owns 16.
He queried: ‘Did I use the word plans? What I’m referring to is magazines, newspapers, plans of buildings. I had plans of buildings. You know, building plans? I had plans of a golf course.’
Donald Trump has now claimed a leaked audio tape of him allegedly showing guests classified Pentagon documents was ‘just bravado’ and that the ‘plans’ he discussed were actually for a golf course
Meanwhile, he denied having any documents and said his previous comments were just bravado.
In the interview onboard his plane he told Semafor: ‘I would say it was bravado, if you want to know the truth, it was bravado.
Read more: Trump sticks with his story that he was showing off newspapers and magazine articles after CNN releases damning audio of him flaunting ‘highly confidential’ and ‘secret information’ about Iran
‘I was talking and just holding up papers and talking about them, but I had no documents. I didn’t have any documents.’
On Monday night, CNN released an audio recording of that conversation in which Trump says of the Pentagon and military officials, ‘they presented me this – this is off the record – but they presented me this.’
‘These are the papers,’ he said. ‘See, as president I could have declassified it. Now I can’t, you know,’ he added, noting how it was ‘interesting’ and ‘cool.’
Last week during an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, Trump said ‘it wasn’t a document’ and said he had copies of newspaper articles and magazines on his desk, a line he repeated to Fox Tuesday during a campaign swing to New Hampshire.
‘I said it very clearly – I had a whole desk full of lots of papers, mostly newspaper articles, copies of magazines, copies of different plans, copies of stories, having to do with many, many subjects, and what was said was absolutely fine. And very perfectly,’ Trump said. ‘We did nothing wrong. This is a whole hoax.’
The conversation is believed to be a key piece of evidence in the special counsel’s indictment against Trump.
On Tuesday, Fox asked the 2024 presidential contender if he was concerned about his own voice being on the recording.
However he denied knowledge and said he hadn’t seen it, before criticizing the ‘fake news’.
Trump owns 16 golf courses around the world and has been closely associated with the sport for many years
A photograph of boxes that contained classified documents that was released as part of the 37-count federal indictment against former President Donald Trump
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