President Donald Trump on Sunday denied that U.S. intelligence officials had briefed him about an alleged plot by Russian operatives to pay Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops.

 

“Nobody briefed me or told me, [Vice President] Pence, or Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians,” Trump tweeted.

 

The president accused The New York Times of using a fake “anonymous source” to report the alleged briefing. In fact, the Times report cited multiple officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. It’s not uncommon for news outlets to grant anonymity to sources who aren’t authorized to speak publicly about information that may be newsworthy.

 

“Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us,” Trump tweeted. He added of the Times report: “Who is their ‘source’?”