It isn’t just President Trump anymore — the United Kingdom is now irritated over leaks from U.S. intelligence officials to the media.
It was American outlets citing U.S. officials that first reported that the terrorist attack in Manchester was carried out by a suicide bomber. CBS and the Associated Press then subsequently reported the identity of the attacker, Salman Abedi, before any British outlets had released the information.
“The British police have been very clear that they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise,” U.K. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Wednesday. “So it is irritating if it gets released from other sources, and I have been very clear with our friends that should not happen again.”
Rudd added, “The Americans are very clear that we really need their support in maintaining operational integrity, and that means also controlling the information.”
However, The Atlantic noted that Americans weren’t too serious in this assurance to British officials, as NBC reported on leaked information that Abedi had help, that his family considered him dangerous, and how he was identified after the incident.
President Trump has been hobbled by leaks throughout his presidency and even before getting into office. He compared U.S. intelligence agencies to those of “Nazi Germany” in a tweet prior his inauguration.