World

Trump shares North Korea story based on anonymous intel sources

President Donald Trump retweets a Fox News report based on anonymous U.S. intelligence sources, despite his attorney general's pledge to clamp down on government leaks.

Trump's tweet comes 4 days after attorney general vowed to prosecute leakers of sensitive information

President Donald Trump retweeted a story, based on anonymous U.S. sources, indicating that spy agencies recently detected North Korea loading two anti-ship cruise missiles on a patrol boat. (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has retweeted a Fox News report based on anonymous U.S. intelligence sources, despite his attorney general's pledge to clamp down on government leaks.

On Tuesday, Trump shared a story with his followers that says U.S. spy agencies detected North Korea "loading two anti-ship cruise missiles on a patrol boat on the country's east coast just days ago."

The story was attributed to anonymous U.S. officials.

Trump has repeatedly complained about leaks of government information to the press. Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed a crackdown, arguing such leaks could harm national security.

Asked about the story on Fox & Friends, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said, "I can't talk about anything that's classified and if that's in a newspaper, that's a shame."

It's unclear if the information is classified. The U.S. military routinely discloses information about North Korea missile movements and launches. The type of missile movements in the story appears fairly routine.

Pressed on whether this was a leak, Haley said: "It's one of these things I don't know what's going on. But I will tell you that it's incredibly dangerous when things get out into the press like that."

The White House did not respond to questions about why Trump retweeted the story or whether he was confirming the information.