Trump claims 'absolute right' to share info with Russian Federation

The Post claims that "according to current and former U.S. officials", Donald Trump let fly privileged information to Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

The meeting happened the day after Mr Trump sacked Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey , who was in charge of investigating whether the President's campaign colluded with Russian Federation to swing the election.

Russia's foreign ministry spokesman denied the report.

He said it was for "humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russian Federation to greatly step up their fight against Isil and terrorism".

Notably, neither Trump nor his advisers have explicitly denied the president shared classified intelligence. The information was classified and reportedly came from an ally in the Middle East. NPR has not confirmed the details of the reports.

- President Trump, in his first response to reports he shared classified information with Russian Federation during a meeting at the White House last week, said he had the right to do so.

Trump also tweeted Tuesday about wanting "to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community".

A senior European intelligence official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his country might stop sharing information with the United States if it confirms President Trump shared classified details with Russian officials. Yet his decision to discuss an ally's information on the Islamic State with other countries could damage his standing with world leaders and lead some countries to start second-guessing their own intelligence-sharing agreements with the U.S.

Turnbull declined to comment specifically on the report, but said during an interview Tuesday with Adelaide radio station 5AA that he is confident in the Australia-U.S. alliance. That was reportedly "code word" information, a level above top secret, meaning the ally wanted it "compartmentalised" and not shared with third countries, or even parts of the USA government.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information and use of a private email server while secretary of state were key points of criticism by Trump and the GOP during last year's campaign.

"Two other senior officials who were present, including the Secretary of State, remember the meeting the same way and have said so".

The two top Republicans in Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, were muted in their response to Trump giving information to Russian Federation. Ryan's office said he hoped for a full explanation, while McConnell said he wished for a little less drama from the White House.

Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

"Given the gravity of the matter, we need to be able to quickly assess whether or not this report is true and what exactly was said", Schumer said. Frank A. LoBiondo, R-N.J. - a member of the House Intelligence Committee who expressed concerns about Trump's disclosure - represent districts that swung strongly toward Trump.

Bob Corker, the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Monday the allegations were "very, very troubling".

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway raised eyebrows when she seemed to invent a terrorist attack in Kentucky as she justified the necessity of Trump's controversial travel ban executive order.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who on Monday called the notion of Trump sharing classified information with Russian Federation "appalling", suggested that it is important to obtain any tapes in case the Trump administration tries to get rid of them.