唐纳德·特朗普总统在周四接受杰拉尔多·瑞弗拉电台采访时说,他正在考虑结束让其他人听他和其他国家领导人通话的做法。
特朗普还对国家安全委员会成员中校·亚历山大·温德曼表示不满。温德曼在2019年的弹劾听证会上,就特朗普与乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskiy)通话期间涉嫌不当行为作证。在那次通话中,特朗普据称要求泽伦斯基对前副总统乔·拜登和他的儿子亨特在乌克兰的商业交易展开调查,以换取约4亿美元的安全援助。
当里维拉问特朗普为什么允许人们监听他的电话时,特朗普说这是一种长期的做法。
“嗯,这就是他们多年来所做的,”特朗普说。“当你打电话给外国领导人时,人们会倾听。我可能会完全停止练习。我可能会彻底结束它。”
“有时候你有25个人,”特朗普补充道,他把国务卿迈克·庞贝(Mike Pompeo)列为听了他和泽伦斯基(Zelenskiy)通话并宣称“完美”的人之一
新闻周刊联系白宫征求意见,但没有得到及时的回应。
特朗普称温德曼在给泽伦斯基打电话后的行为是“非常从属的”
“唯一的一个,这个家伙跑了,说他不喜欢这个电话,”特朗普说,指的是文德曼。“首先,那是非常不服从的。他为什么不去找他的顶头上司——你知道,他去找国会,或者去找[众议院情报委员会主席亚当·希夫,或者去找某人。”
唐纳德·特朗普总统周四表示,他可能会结束让别人监听他与外国领导人通话的做法。
在总统在美国参议院宣布弹劾指控无罪后,特朗普解雇了温德曼和美国驻欧盟大使戈登·桑德兰。两人都在弹劾听证会上作证指控特朗普。
“当我们把温德曼带出大楼时,大楼为他鼓掌,”特朗普在谈到温德曼被解雇时说。"大楼里的许多人开始鼓掌。"
“我不是温德曼的粉丝,”特朗普补充道。“顺便说一句,我想我从未见过他。你要明白,这些人中有许多我从未见过。但毫无疑问,我不是温德曼的粉丝。”
在被特朗普政府赶下台之前,温德曼是国家安全委员会乌克兰问题的首席专家。许多观察人士认为,此举是对他的证词的报复。
温德曼被解雇后,他的律师大卫·普雷斯曼在二月份的一份声明中说,“在任何一个美国人的心中,都没有疑问为什么这个人的工作结束了,为什么这个国家现在少了一名在白宫服役的士兵。猛虎组织的温德曼被要求离开,因为他说了实话。他的荣誉,他对正义的承诺,吓坏了强大的。”
国家安全顾问罗伯特·奥布赖恩在周二对大西洋理事会的讲话中说,报复不是温德曼下台的动力。
“总统有权让员工执行他有信心的政策,”奥布赖恩说。“我们不是一个由一群中尉上校聚在一起决定美国政策的国家。我们不是香蕉共和国。”
奥布赖恩也否认温德曼被解雇,而是被重新分配到一个不同的军事部门。“能在白宫工作是我的荣幸,”奥布莱恩说。“这不是权利。”
TRUMP SAYS HE MIGHT STOP OFFICIALS LISTENING IN ON HIS CALLS WITH FOREIGN LEADERS AFTER 'INSUBORDINATE' VINDMAN'S TESTIMONY
President Donald Trump said he was considering ending the practice of having other people listen to his calls with leaders of other countries, during a Thursday interview with Geraldo Rivera on his radio show.
Trump also voiced his displeasure with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council member who testified about alleged improprieties during Trump's phone call with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the impeachment hearings in 2019. During that call, Trump allegedly asked Zelenskiy to open an investigation into the Ukraine-based business dealings of both former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in exchange for approximately $400 million in security aid.
When Rivera asked Trump why people were allowed to listen in on his phone calls Trump said it was a longstanding practice.
"Well, that's what they've done over the years," Trump said. "When you call a foreign leader, people listen. I may end the practice entirely. I may end it entirely."
"Sometimes you have 25 people," Trump added, naming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as one of those who listened to his call with Zelenskiy and proclaimed it "perfect."
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Trump called Vindman's actions in the aftermath of his phone call to Zelenskiy "very subordinate."
"The only one, this guy ran and said he didn't like the call," Trump said, referring to Vindman. "First of all, that's very insubordinate. Why wouldn't he go to his immediate—you know, he went to Congress or he went to [House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam] Schiff or he went to somebody."
President Donald Trump said Thursday he may end the practice of letting others listen in to his phone calls with foreign leaders.
After the president's acquittal of impeachment charges in the U.S. Senate, Trump fired both Vindman, as well as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Both men had testified against Trump during the impeachment hearings.
"Vindman was a guy that when we took him out of the building, the building applauded," Trump said of Vindman's dismissal. "Many of the people in the building started applauding."
"I'm not a fan of Vindman," Trump added. "I don't think I've ever met him, by the way. Just so you understand, many of these people I've never met. But I'm not a fan of Vindman, no question about it."
Vindman was the leading expert on Ukraine at the NSC before being ousted by the Trump administration in a move many observers believed was retribution for his testimony.
After Vindman's dismissal, his attorney David Pressman said in a February statement, "There is no question in the mind of any American why this man's job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it in the White House. LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honor, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful."
National security adviser Robert O'Brien said retaliation was not the impetus for Vindman's removal, during remarks to the Atlantic Council Tuesday.
"The president is entitled to staffers that want to execute his policy that he has confidence in," O'Brien said. "We're not a country where a bunch of lieutenant colonels can get together and decide what the policy is of the United States. We're not a banana republic."
O'Brien also denied that Vindman had been fired, but instead reassigned to a different military detail. "It's a privilege to work at the White House," O'Brien said. "It's not a right."