--- title: John McCain: Trump Intelligence Report 'Deeply Disturbing' description: Sen. John McCain on Monday called the report that President Trump shared classified intelligence with Russian officials "deeply disturbing" canonical: https://time.com/4780065/john-mccain-donald-trump-classified-intelligence/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-16T00:54:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:56:25.164Z article:section: Politics og:title: John McCain: Report on Trump Disclosing Intelligence 'Deeply Disturbing' og:description: "We certainly don't want any president to leak classified information" og:url: https://time.com/4780065/john-mccain-donald-trump-classified-intelligence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfeaa13e913ca0a2/6988cd62656a3f23cbbcffd6/gettyimages-6768562521.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: American Visionary: John F. Kennedy's Life And Times At Smithsonian American Art Museum On May 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John McCain: Report on Trump Disclosing Intelligence 'Deeply Disturbing' twitter:description: "We certainly don't want any president to leak classified information" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfeaa13e913ca0a2/6988cd62656a3f23cbbcffd6/gettyimages-6768562521.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain: Report on President Trump Disclosing Classified Intelligence to Russians Is 'Deeply Disturbing'  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 16, 2017 12:54 AM CUT  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks at the American Visionary: John F. Kennedy's Life and Times debut gala at Smithsonian American Art Museum on May 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks at the American Visionary: John F. Kennedy's Life and Times debut gala at Smithsonian American Art Museum on May 2, 2017 in Washington, DC.Paul Morigi—etty Images for WS Productions  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 16, 2017 12:54 AM CUT Arizona Sen. [John McCain](http://time.com/4770891/sen-john-mccain-rex-tillerson-foreign-policy/?iid=sr-link10 "undefined") on Monday called the report that [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4779986/donald-trump-russia-classified-information-isis/?xid=homepage "undefined") shared classified intelligence with Russian officials “deeply disturbing.” A [Washington _Post_ report](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.06a9e76428cb "undefined"), which cited current and former U.S. officials, found that Trump revealed highly classified intelligence about ISIS threats with Russian officials during a meeting in the Oval Office last week. “If true, deeply disturbing…” McCain, a Republican, said in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/864250866475421697 "undefined"), linking to the [Washington _Post_ story](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.06a9e76428cb "undefined"). “We certainly don’t want any president to leak classified information, but the president does have the right to do that,” McCain said earlier Monday evening, according to the Associated Press. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an explanation from the White House. “We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation’s secrets is paramount,” a spokesperson for Ryan said in a statement. “The speaker hopes for a fully explanation of the facts form the administration.” Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican, criticized the White House in comments to reporters on Monday. “They are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening,” Corker said, according to [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/congress-reactions-trump-classified/index.html "undefined"). Trump Administration officials denied the _Post_ report. “At no time — at no time — were intelligence sources or methods discussed. And the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known,” National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said Monday night. “I was in the room. It didn’t happen,” he added. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4780065/john-mccain-donald-trump-classified-intelligence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4780065/john-mccain-donald-trump-classified-intelligence/"},"headline":"John McCain: Report on President Trump Disclosing Classified Intelligence to Russians Is 'Deeply Disturbing'","datePublished":"2017-05-16T00:54:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:56:25.164Z","description":"\"We certainly don't want any president to leak classified information\"","url":"https://time.com/4780065/john-mccain-donald-trump-classified-intelligence/","keywords":["Donald Trump","russia","Congress","White House","National Security","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfeaa13e913ca0a2/6988cd62656a3f23cbbcffd6/gettyimages-6768562521.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfeaa13e913ca0a2/6988cd62656a3f23cbbcffd6/gettyimages-6768562521.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"American Visionary: John F. 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