Biden says Trump doesn’t understand national security, intel officials ‘don’t trust’ him

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said that national security officials “don’t trust” President Trump in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that aired Thursday.

Biden referenced comments Trump made to journalist Bob Woodward for his upcoming book “Rage” in February and March at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

In two of the 18 interviews conducted and recorded by the seasoned reporter, Trump said he wanted to “play … down” the threat of the coronavirus to reduce panic. And in February, the president called the disease “deadly stuff.” According to another section of the book, Trump also bragged about a supposedly secret nuclear weapons system in an interview.

CNN first reported on Woodward’s recorded interviews with the president. Later, the recordings were included in coverage released by The Washington Post. 

“You wonder why people in the intelligence community wondered from the very beginning whether you could share data with him, ’cause they don’t trust him. They don’t trust what he’ll say or do,” Biden said. “He seems to have no conception of what constitutes national security, no conception of anything other than what can he do to promote himself?”

Biden also referenced Trump’s alleged remarks reported by The Atlantic last week claiming the president called American soldiers killed in World War I “losers” and suckers.”

Trump has denied making the remarks, which were later confirmed by sources to several outlets including The Associated Press, the Post, The New York Times and Fox News.

“They’re heroes. They really are heroes. Duty, honor, country,” Biden said. “He talks about can you repeat four words in a row or whatever his little IQ test or dementia test he took, he doesn’t understand duty, honor, service, country. He doesn’t get it. Or if he gets it he doesn’t care about it.”

Biden has sharply condemned the reported remarks before, invoking his late son Beau, who served in the Iraq War.

“All the people with him, the people who died. They’re suckers? I mean I can’t fathom,” Biden told Tapper in reference to his son.

The former vice president also pointed to an Axios report that the president asked about deploying nuclear bombs to eradicate a hurricane.

“This is the guy who said maybe the way to deal with hurricane is drop a nuclear bomb on them. I mean — seriously, he said it!” Biden said. “I mean, God.”