Nuclear secrets found at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
Recovered material could deepen national security implications of former president’s actions

The FBI has recovered a document describing a foreign government’s nuclear capabilities during its search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, according to a report in the US.
Citing unnamed sources, The Washington Post said that as well as details of the foreign power’s nuclear weapons capabilities, information about the unnamed nation’s conventional military defences was also discovered at the Florida resort.
The US newspaper said that some of the 11,000-plus documents seized from Trump’s estate are typically closely guarded and have “a designated control officer” to monitor their location. Even intelligence bosses and national security personnel would not have known about the details found in some of the documents. “Only the president, some members of his Cabinet or a near-Cabinet-level official could authorise other government officials to know details of these special-access programs,” a source said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The latest revelation has prompted alarm. “Trump stored another country’s nuclear secrets at f***ing Mar-a-Lago,” said Rolling Stone, while former US department of defense special counsel Ryan Goodman tweeted that “many people are behind bars for far, far less”.
The former US president is already under investigation by the justice department for his unauthorised removal of highly sensitive government records from the White House and for allegedly storing them improperly at Mar-a-Lago.
Following the FBI raid, Trump said the move was “not necessary or appropriate”, adding: “These are dark times for our nation.”
The former US president has insisted that he declassified the documents before leaving the White House last year and described the Department of Justice investigation as part of a politically motivated witch-hunt against him.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
As rumours swirl that Trump is planning to run again for the presidency, the controversy may not have dented his popularity, according to The Times, as some polls have shown his support rising among Republican voters following the FBI search.
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’
Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot