
Did Donald Trump tweet classified military imagery? - sjcsjc
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49532408
======
drmpeg
This analysis suggests it was a particular spook satellite.

[https://github.com/cbassa/satellite_analysis/blob/master/nah...](https://github.com/cbassa/satellite_analysis/blob/master/nahid1_launch_failure_analysis.ipynb)

~~~
classics2
So absolutey, yes.

------
Simulacra
Why is this even a question? The president can decide what is classified and
what is not, it may not be good policy or diplomacy, but that’s the presidents
prerogative.

------
jacknews
Is it me, or is there a refection of the photographer's head in the image - it
looks like they snapped a glossy photograph from an iphone.

Is it Donald? If so it looks like he just whipped his iphone out during the
debriefing and twittered the photo.

Perhaps it's just desert coloration from the blast

~~~
tastroder
The original on Twitter [0] shows not only that head to the right side but
also the torso of another person in the center. Doubt that's Trump's head
though, the contour looks off.

[0]
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EDPFB_XWkAY6QWB?format=jpg&name=...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EDPFB_XWkAY6QWB?format=jpg&name=large)

~~~
jacknews
Not sure if that's a torso, or the hand holding the phone, the whiter 'oblong'
being the bottom of the phone, with the flash at the top

~~~
tastroder
Oh, right, I interpreted that white part as a collar but it might just be part
of the phone or a sleeve.

------
jacknews
How does the presidential twitter account work?

It seems like Donald just logs in on his laptop, or iphone, and posts what's
on his mind.

Surely it should go through a bunch of advisors, and then a communications
secretary makes the actual post?

That should be enforced protocol for Presidents, and CEO's, at least.

~~~
wildtomato
Donald Trump very likely controls his own Twitter account, personally, with
very little input from staff before hitting submit.

This is contrary to other public figures, such as Barack Obama, who had
communications staff manage his Twitter account.

Part of Donald Trump’s “draw” if you will is that his messaging is nearly
completely unfiltered, raw, and as close to his stream of thought as anyone
has ever likely seen from a President in the modern era.

As for how dangerous that is, I’m sure people will be discussing that for
years to come.

------
wildtomato
In his capacity as President of the United States, Donald Trump has the
ultimate authority to declassify any executive branch material. So
technically, he declassified the material the moment he sent the tweet,
assuming the imagery was classified in the first place. I’m unsure if anyone
has determined exactly how classified the material was: confidential, secret,
top secret.

For anyone thinking that the President should have a process to declassify
information like everyone else in the intelligence community: There likely is
one, but the ultimate authority to enforce it is vested with the Office of the
President and the President likely chose to disregard it by tweeting.

