During reporter's question, Trump suddenly whispers with Hegseth about chemical weapons
US President Donald Trump was asked about Russia's use of chemical weapons in a cabinet meeting. The 79-year-old turned to his defense secretary and began to whisper.
Intelligence agencies from Germany and the Netherlands accuse Vladimir Putin's army of using the banned chemical chloropicrin in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump was asked about this by a reporter at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening: " Ukraine has asked the International Criminal Court to take action against Russia for using toxic chemicals in combat. German and Dutch intelligence agencies accuse Russia of this. What do the US intelligence agencies think, and what do you think about the use of chemical weapons?"
The 79-year-old immediately began whispering to his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and asked him, "What do you know about this?" Hegseth explained to Trump that CIA Director John Ratcliffe might know something about it. "Well, I'd like John to comment on that," the US president immediately handed over to the intelligence officer.
John Ratcliffe responded, but did not answer all of the questions and pointed to the secrecy of some information: "Mr. President, of course, chemical weapons, if their use is documented, if they are used, are illegal. This violates all international laws of armed conflict and treaties, and of course, the information I can share with you privately, I cannot share with the audience in this room. But of course, you will not tolerate or permit any violations of international law by anyone."
The German Foreign Intelligence Service announced at the end of last week: "The use of tear gas and chloropicrin by Russian troops has now become standard practice and is widespread." The chemical in question is a lung warfare agent and was known as Grünkreuz-1 during World War I. In high concentrations, chloropicrin is lethal.
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