Donald Trump has finally responded to the damaging leaks of information from the Manchester attack investigation.
The president has said the US leaks of evidence relating to the Manchester bombing are "deeply troubling" and has vowed "to get to the bottom of this".
He said he had instructed the Department of Justice to launch a full investigation into the leaks, but didn't confirm that the leaks had come from American intelligence sources. He called the leaks "alleged," though the information has widely been presumed to have come from US sources since American news organisations have been the first to publish specific details around the investigation and explosion.
American news organisations were the first to report the attacker's name and many details about the victims, leading to condemnation from the prime minister, the home secretary and the mayor of Manchester. The leaks have continued since, with the New York Times publishing pictures of the bomb and reporting in precise detail how it had been made and detonated. The details came out at a time when British law enforcement officials were working to determine if there were more potential terrorists planning further attacks beyond the blast outside of an Ariana Grande concert that killed at least 22 people and left nearly 60 people injured.
Mr Trump also reassured British allies that he took these alleged breaches seriously, and that the US still values Britain as an important ally. "There is no relationship we cherish more than the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom", he said.
The President is in Brussels in the middle of his first official foreign trip, and is meeting with Nato leaders there before a planned trip to Sicily for G7 summits. Prime Minister Theresa May warned Mr Trump earlier that the suspected leaks could undermine or jeopardise shared intelligence operations between the two countries.
The Trump administration has been at the centre of what appears to be a growing scandal back at home. His White House and US intelligence agencies there have been providing the press with frequent leaks that have painted a picture of a disorganised West Wing, and an increasingly serious investigation into the Trump campaign's potential ties with Russia. With those scandals swirling in the media, Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed concerns about the leaky ship he helms.
