Trump's Disclosures Are Another Win for Russia

In one way, it’s not exactly surprising that President Donald Trump reportedly shared with the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak some “highly classified” information about a specific threat from ISIS, setting off alarm bells inside the intelligence community that the president himself had just “jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.” After all those kind words traded back and forth and awash in the good cheer that was evident in those now infamous photos of their meeting last week, he just seems to have overshared a little.

But one reason the alleged presidential disclosure is hugely significant—even aside from its likely impact on Trump’s already strained relationship with his on their call two weeks ago, and it is the one area of cooperation that Putin continues to hold out to the West.