Donald Trump Lacked Mental Acuity to Understand National Security Issues, Suggests Fmr NATSEC Advisor
A former National Security advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence has thoughts on Donald Trump and his ability to
Ivy Griffith
A former National Security advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence has thoughts on Donald Trump and his ability to grasp national security issues.
Olivia Troye appeared on MSNBC with host Alex Witt, and they spoke about a recent report that Trump was sharing highly sensitive classified documents with visitors to his Bedminster golf resort.
Trump, who could be facing Espionage Act and obstruction charges, was very casual with national security issues, Troye explained, and found it concerning but not particularly surprising that he was potentially sharing sensitive info.
Troye told Witt that there were always concerns among top administration officials when it came to Trump’s handling of sensitive information. “I think Trump is seriously a very unstable and unfit leader.”
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The former NATSEC advisor then adds, “He was very trivial when it came to matters of national security, and he did not have the grasp to understand the gravity of certain situations; the strategic understanding of what it meant internationally and regionally when some of these decisions were being discussed, and potentially being made.”
Troye continued, “I’ll say this, my own direct boss, Pence’s national security advisor, General [Keith] Kellogg, played a significant role at times when talking Trump out of things when it comes to Iran. So when this reporting surfaced, I just said to myself, you know, colleagues of mine and I have been talking to each other about this when this classified doc situation surfaced. We said, ‘What do you think it is?’ And this was actually one of our bets, was it was related to possibly Iran because of his fixation with this whole scenario.”
Troye isn’t the only one to work with Trump who suggested that he’s either incapable of or uninterested in learning the complexities of foreign policy and the ramifications of national security decisions.
Of course, for now, most of what people are talking about concerning Trump and the documents investigation is speculation.
It is being speculated that special counsel Jack Smith is wrapping up his investigation, and it is being speculated that Trump could face Espionage Act and/or obstruction charges.
The only thing we really know is Trump’s past behavior, which does align with the cavalier attitude that Troye describes.
If someone doesn’t grasp the ramifications of leaking sensitive information, they would struggle with understanding why they can’t share that information.
Troy told the MSNBC host, “I feel like the clock is ticking,” when it comes to criminal charges potentially being filed against Trump. While Trump’s team “will stall the process” in the investigations as long as possible, “I think it’s important to move these investigations forward and get to the bottom of it” before the 2024 election cycle starts in earnest.
Trump is currently the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, and may face off against President Joe Biden in a repeat of the 2020 election.
But Trump is facing peril not only from Smith’s investigation into the classified documents, but also potential election interference charges coming from Georgia, and he’s already been indicted on fraud charges in the hush money case being handled in Manhattan.
All in all, this year could either be one of Trump’s worst – or one of his best.
But the idea that advisors knew Trump struggled to grasp the gravity of national security information could weigh against the former POTUS.