Day 25: Trump Conducts National Security Meeting in Full Dining Room
Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister got together for some together time, including some taxpayer-funded golf that allowed Trump to directly profit.
When North Korea unexpectedly test-fired missiles, the leaders from the U.S. and Japan huddled to strategize, presumably about short and long-term responses, especially important considering Japan’s proximity to North Korea.
Yes, Trump and others used their phones (remember, at the very least, we know Trump is using an unsecured phone) to illuminate the documents. This is a huge security concern.
The Washington Post explains:
Why is this important? Mobile phones have flashlights, yes — and cameras, microphones and Internet connectivity. When Edward Snowden was meeting with reporters in Hong Kong at the moment he was leaking the material he’d stolen from the NSA, he famously asked that they place their phones in the refrigerator — blocking any radio signals in the event that the visitors’ phones had been hacked. This was considered the most secure way of ensuring that the phones couldn’t be used as wiretaps, even more secure than removing the battery. Phones — especially phones with their flashes turned on for improved visibility — are portable television satellite trucks and, if compromised, can be used to get a great deal of information about what’s happening nearby, unless precautions are taken.
The Trump team is aiming very, very hackable phones toward crucial national security documents. On top of that, they’re literally illuminating the very, very sensitive documents. All of this is occurring in the middle of the very, very open dining hall at Mar-a-Lago.
All the while, waiters are continuing to bring food and clear plates, a pianist is playing in the background and fellow diners are gawking and taking photos.
Trump seems to be taking this all extremely seriously.
Or not.
But even as he confronted one of the gravest matters of his office, Trump nonetheless found it impossible to resist dropping in on a nearby wedding reception, already underway in his treasured Grand Ballroom. Trump designed and built the space himself after purchasing Mar-a-Lago in the 1980s.
Entering the ornate room, Trump took a photo with the bride and her bridesmaids, who posed in red gowns next to the commander in chief, mimicking his signature thumbs-up.
Then he grabbed a microphone.
“I saw them out on the lawn today,” Trump said of the bride and groom, who were standing nearby. “I said to the Prime Minister of Japan, I said, ‘C’mon Shinzo, let’s go over and say hello.’ “
“They’ve been members of this club for a long time,” Trump said of the newlyweds. “They’ve paid me a fortune.”
Yeah, but what about Hillary’s private email server?
25 days in, 1437 to go
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