Donald Trump allegedly discussed US nuclear subs with Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt

America’s ABC News is reporting that Donald Trump discussed potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt.

Then US president Donald Trump and billionaire Anthony Pratt at the opening of Pratt Paper Plant in Wapakoneta, Ohio, in September 2019.

Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt has been identified as a ­potential witness against Donald Trump in his classified documents trial after he allegedly received ­secret information on US nuclear submarine capabilities from the former president.

America’s ABC News reported that Mr Pratt was interviewed by prosecutors and FBI agents over the alleged 2021 disclosure by Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The Pratt Industries and Visy boss reportedly said in the interviews that Mr Trump disclosed the exact number of nuclear warheads carried by US nuclear subs, and how close they could get to a Russian submarine without being detected.

Mr Pratt, whose office did not return calls on Friday, allegedly ­relayed details of the exchange to at least 45 people, including three former prime ministers, six journalists, 11 of his company's employees, and 10 Australian officials, ABC News reported.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott told The Weekend Australian that he had “no recollection of any such discussion” with Mr Pratt, while his successor, Malcolm Turnbull, said Mr Pratt did not speak to him about the matter.

Scott Morrison, who was close to Mr Pratt and was in office at the time of the alleged Trump disclosure, did not respond to inquiries. Anthony Albanese’s office also ­declined to comment.

The Trump-Pratt conversation allegedly happened soon after Mr Trump’s election defeat and about five months before the AUKUS pact was announced.

Prosecutors interviewed Mr Pratt as part of their classified documents case against the former president, and he is now among more than 80 people identified as possible witnesses who could testify in a trial beginning next May, The New York Times reported.

Mr Pratt reportedly told investigators that Mr Trump did not show him any classified documents. Prosecutors could use the Australian’s evidence to argue the former president was reckless in his handling of classified information.

Mr Trump’s alleged disclosure came after Mr Pratt declared to the former president that Australia should buy US submarines, prompting Mr Trump to “lean in” to share the information, ABC News reported.

The Weekend Australian is not suggesting that Mr Pratt knowingly shared any potentially illegal or sensitive information.

Former Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey sought to play down the revelations in a comment to The New York Times. “If that’s all that was discussed, we already know all that,” Mr Hockey said.

“We have had Australians serving with Americans on US submarines for years, and we share the same technology and the same weapons as the US Navy.”

Mr Turnbull told The Guardian: “Trump did ask me in early 2017 why we were buying French rather than US subs.

“I explained it was important that they be a sovereign capability and we did not have the means at that stage to sustain and maintain nuclear-powered submarines ourselves.”

The alleged disclosure was not included in the June indictment of Mr Trump, which charged the former president with 40 counts of unlawful retention of national ­defence information and obstruction-related offences.

The 77-year-old Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is ­accused of taking hundreds of classified government documents to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

Under the AUKUS deal reached between the Australian, UK and US governments, Australia will be ­provided with nuclear-powered ­attack submarines in the 2030s. They will not carry any ­nuclear warheads.

Then US president Donald Trump greets Anthony Pratt at the opening of Pratt Paper Plant in Wapakoneta, Ohio in 2019.

ABC News reported a former Mar-a-Lago employee, who was close to the Trump-Pratt conversation, told investigators the businessman had told others “within minutes” what the former president had just said.

The staff member told investigators he was “bothered” and “shocked” to hear that Mr Trump had provided such seemingly sensitive information to a non-US citizen in such a cavalier fashion.

The Biden administration cut Mr Trump out of intelligence briefings that former presidents traditionally receive when they leave office, following his role in the January 6 Capitol Hill riots and concerns over his discretion.

Mr Trump and Mr Pratt developed a close relationship throughout the former’s presidency, especially after Mr Pratt pledged to invest $US2bn in American manufacturing in 2017.

Additional reporting: John Stensholt