Trump complains whistleblower's sources are like 'spies' and would have been dealt with 'differently' in the 'old days'

President Trump reportedly stunned attendees of a private breakfast Thursday by railing against the U.S. officials who provided information to a whistleblower, suggesting they should be harshly punished for treason.

Trump, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times report, spoke Thursday to staff of the United States Mission to the United Nations and ranted about the sources who spoke with the anonymous whistleblower, saying, "I want to know who's the person who gave the whistleblower the information because that's close to a spy."

Trump reportedly then said, "You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart with spies and treason, right? We used to handle it a little differently than we do now."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

The president's remarks, the newspapers report, stunned people in the audience. They came following the release of the declassified complaint alleging Trump abused his power by pushing for Ukraine's president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and that White House officials then moved to restrict access to the call's transcript. Although the whistleblower did not have firsthand knowledge, the complaint says it is based on the account of more than half a dozen U.S. officials.

At this same event, Trump reportedly referred to reporters as "animals" and "scum" while saying that although "I didn't do anything," "I don't know if I’m the most innocent person in the world."

During his testimony Thursday, acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire defended the whistleblower, saying they "acted in good faith throughout" the process and "did the right thing."