Trump Says Whistleblower Is ‘Close to a Spy’ at Private Event: Report
“You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart with spies and treason, right?” Trump reportedly said.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
President Trump on Thursday told a group of about 50 people at a private event at the United Nations General Assembly that the whistleblower who came forward with information that Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate his political rival Joe Biden was “close to a spy,” The New York Times reports. “I want to know who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information because that’s close to a spy,” Trump reportedly said, according to a source with notes of the president’s remarks. “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.” The comments reportedly stunned people in the audience, but are in line with Trump’s persistent efforts to dispel the whistleblower complaint since news of its existence broke on Friday. The complaint, which was released to the public on Thursday, notes that the whistleblower obtained information about the call from multiple United States officials.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.