--- description: Trump is under fire for reportedly doing the same thing he repeatedly criticized Hillary Clinton for: transmitting classified information title: A Look Back at Trump's Criticism of Hillary Clinton and Classified Information image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4808c81d42e3647c/6988cd38cd1bba44297052e7/gettyimages-6823931701.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Look Back at Donald Trump's Criticism of Hillary Clinton and Classified Information ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. The President's words could come back to haunt him_  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 16, 2017 8:33 PM CUT  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 16, 2017 8:33 PM CUT [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4780889/trump-leaks-save-america/ "undefined") is now under fire for reportedly doing the same thing he repeatedly criticized Hillary Clinton for on the campaign trail in 2016: transmitting classified information. [The _Washington_ _Post_ reported](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=.3715a66a2d27 "undefined") on Monday that Trump had shared highly classified information with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during their meeting last week, possibly imperiling diplomatic relations with the country who provided it. The President has broad powers to declassify information, so it is unlikely Trump broke the law, according to the _Post,_ but he seems to have contradicted himself. The transmission of classified information was one of the main points Trump often cited about the dangers of [Hillary Clinton’s](http://time.com/4773354/donald-trump-james-comey-fired-hillary-clinton-email-investigation/ "undefined") private email server. “She was willing to risk our foreign enemies reading her emails as long as the voting American public could not,” [Trump said last July.](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=117815 "undefined") > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/750648675186147328) [Former FBI Director James Comey](http://time.com/4778500/trump-james-comey-fired-poll/ "undefined") — whom Trump ousted last week — [said last summer](https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clinton2019s-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system "undefined") that Clinton was “extremely careless” in the way she handled classified information, but she and her associates did not break any law. But this criticism about classified information continued to be a staple of Trump’s campaign speeches. Watch these criticisms in the clip above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4781328/donald-trump-classified-information-hillary-clinton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4781328/donald-trump-classified-information-hillary-clinton/"},"headline":"A Look Back at Donald Trump's Criticism of Hillary Clinton and Classified Information","datePublished":"2017-05-16T20:33:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:45.853Z","description":"The President's words could come back to haunt him","url":"https://time.com/4781328/donald-trump-classified-information-hillary-clinton/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Hillary Clinton","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4808c81d42e3647c/6988cd38cd1bba44297052e7/gettyimages-6823931701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4808c81d42e3647c/6988cd38cd1bba44297052e7/gettyimages-6823931701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"First Lady Melania Trump Hosts A Celebration Of MilitaryMothers Event","caption":"First Lady Melania Trump Hosts A Celebration Of MilitaryMothers Event","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4781328/donald-trump-classified-information-hillary-clinton/","name":"A Look Back at Donald Trump's Criticism of Hillary Clinton and Classified Information"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"The President's words could come back to haunt him","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4781328/donald-trump-classified-information-hillary-clinton/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4781328/donald-trump-classified-information-hillary-clinton/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```