'Absolute disregard': Trump skewered over 'reckless' botched covert mission
In his first term, President Donald Trump personally approved a Navy SEALs team to secretly plant an electronic device on a North Korean fishing boat. The device would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during high-level nuclear talks with Trump.
But in an explosive report, The New York Times wrote that the team failed their mission in a deadly way. Fearing that they had been spotted, the SEALs opened fire on the boat, killing the innocent fishermen onboard.
Trump never publicly acknowledged or notified key members of Congress who oversee intelligence operations, either before or after the mission. That lack of notification may have violated the law, reports the Times.
Social media exploded at the news.
“Yet another example of Trump's reckless and failed approach to dealing with nuclear-armed North Korea,” posted Arms Control Association Director Daryl Kimball on X.
“If this had happened under Obama or Biden the media would have crucified them,” said another X commentator.
Constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis called the maneuver “an absolute disregard for Article I powers,” on X, adding, “Good thing we’re giving the Dept. of Defense nicknames.”
Another critic snidely described the drama on X as “future Nobel peace prize laureate” Donald Trump killing “a boat full of fishermen then didn’t tell Congress about it.”
“Dude… can the U.S. negotiate in good faith… like, at all?” demanded another critic on X.
The NY Times said the White House declined to comment.
Read the New York Times report at this link.
