US allies are looking for ways to get round classified data exchange with Trump administration - Politico

United States allies that regularly share intelligence with America are looking for ways to protect classified information from "leaky" Donald Trump administration. However, their options are limited.

"You can't just flip off a switch," a North European military official told Politico. The journalists noted that the fears of foreign intelligence services are far from hypothetical, as his team has already faced accusations of mishandling confidential information only a month after Trump took office.

The fact is that the CIA sent an email containing the names and first letters of the surnames of recently hired analysts and operatives (many of whom were hired to focus on China) to the US Office of Personnel Management.

The letter was related to an initiative to reduce the federal workforce, but it ended up putting the operatives at increased risk.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, called it a "disastrous national security move" that would make the people named in the letter a "direct target."

The publication recalled some of the scandals that occurred during Trump's first presidential term. For example, he once posted a top-secret image of an Iranian missile launch site on Twitter and shared confidential Israeli intelligence with Russia's foreign minister.

A Politico source, a former senior member of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service, said that when it came to top secret projects, they were extremely cautious in their contacts with the American side.

"There always is, mind you, with any administration, we don’t just open up the books. But we were even more cautious the last time with Trump, and I find it hard to believe the service won’t be a little more guarded this time," said the anonymous source.

Kelly McFarland, an analyst at the US State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, said that the Five Eyes (an intelligence alliance of the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand) "are already going to be a little worried given the track record that we already have."

"Political trust with the U.S. is eroding. That cuts across all elements of national security including the IC. But at a day-to-day level with intelligence professionals, I don’t think there is an issue — yet. This feels more of a political problem rather than an operational one. But at some point, those worlds will converge," another source, a former British military officer, told journalists.

As previously reported, the United States has suspended consideration of immigration applications from Ukrainian citizens who were allowed to enter under the refugee support program introduced under the presidency of Joe Biden. The desicion was explained by threats related to fraud and security issues.

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