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WASHINGTON – Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said President Donald Trump's COVID-19 hospitalization raises serious national security concerns and that adversaries should be expected to exploit U.S. vulnerabilities.
The White House and national security agencies must move quickly to ensure the chain of command is secure and the military is prepared to respond without delay to provocation or attack, he said. The COVID-19 pandemic, the recession and Trump's questioning of the election's integrity could embolden adversaries to test the United States.
Trump was being taken to Walter Reed National Military Hospital late Friday.
"That debate the other night raised the question of stability in the United States," Panetta said. "Now we have the president and first lady ill and the country is in a vulnerable situation. We have to be very prepared to deal with the possibility that an adversary will seek to take advantage."
The former chief of staff to President Clinton and CIA director and Defense Secretary under President Obama, Panetta said Trump's illness adds to the instability. He also talked about the succession process if Trump becomes incapacitated and the need for White House transparency about his health.
Iran, Russia, China and North Korea have tangled to varying degrees with the U.S. military. Iran fired missiles at a U.S. base in Iraq, wounding dozens of troops, after the U.S. killed Iranian General Qassim Soleimani in January. Russian and Chinese warplanes and ships have buzzed American ships and aircraft, and North Korea's ballistic missiles are a perennial threat.
'Ready to defend our country'
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Pentagon leadership must be in close contact to ensure that orders to the military are executed without delay, Panetta said. Meanwhile, the military's alert status remained unchanged Friday following news of Trump's illness, said Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon press secretary.
"The U.S. military stands ready to defend our country and interests," Hoffman said in a statement. "There’s no change to the readiness or capability of our armed forces. Our national command and control structure is in no way affected by this announcement."
A presidential illness, however, always has potential to become a crisis, Panetta said.
"Any time the president is ill, there is a national security issue," Panetta said. "The implication that our national security may be vulnerable or in some way at risk always comes up. I think with our adversaries we always have to worry. Particularly at a time when there are so many crises happening at once."
'It is the public's business'
The process of succession should the president become incapacitated is delicate, Panetta said. In some cases, such as the president being anesthetized, the need to transfer authority has a relatively clear beginning and end. It becomes more cloudy when illness sets in.
“To be frank, when something happens to the president, a lot of it rests on the good judgment and common sense of the people around the president," Panetta said.
Panetta urged the White House to be forthcoming about Trump's condition. That hasn't always been the case, he said, noting that the White House shielded Franklin Roosevelt's disability and Dwight Eisenhower's heart attack.
"It is extremely important to keep the public fully informed about what is happening," Panetta said. "It is particularly critical that information about the president's health is presented openly. The tendency is 'don’t panic the public, don’t tell the full story.' But I think it’s essential that the public know exactly what is going on. I really urge the White House not to pull any punches. Have the doctors stand up and make very clear news with regards to the president’s heath. It is the public's business to know what's going on."
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