Donald Trump reportedly disclosed “potentially sensitive” details of the US nuclear submarine program to an Australian billionaire, according to reports in the US.

America’s ABC News reported on Friday (AEDT) that Trump allegedly shared the delicate information with Visy Industries boss Anthony Pratt, who is a fellow member of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club.

It came in April 2021, months after the former US president had exited the White House.

The conversation was reported to the team led by special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating Trump’s alleged illegal storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

ABC News reported that Pratt was interviewed by the FBI this year.

Sources told the network the disclosure came as Pratt tried to make conversation with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Pratt brought up the US submarine fleet, which the pair had previously discussed.

He told Trump he thought Australia should look to the US to buy submarines, which apparently prompted the former president to lean in and divulge specific information – allegedly, the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads the subs have, and how close they can get to a Russian submarine without being detected.

It’s not clear if the information was accurate but it is being investigated. Pratt was reportedly told not to repeat the information.

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Despite that, he apparently shared it with at least 45 other people, including journalists, employees, Australian officials – and three unnamed former Australian prime ministers.

ABC News reports that Pratt told investigators he didn’t know if what Trump said was legitimate or not, but he was asked to not repeat what he had been told.

Another witness, a former Mar-a-Lago employee, reported that Pratt shared what Trump had said about the submarine fleet just minutes later, according to ABC’s sources.

The worker was said to be “bothered” and “shocked” that the former president had given what might have been sensitive information to someone who wasn’t even a US citizen.

Sources have said Trump’s remarks “potentially endangered the US nuclear fleet”. The exchange also raises the possibility of Pratt being called by prosecutors to testify against Trump in his classified documents trial, which is due to start next May in Florida.

Pratt ‘advocating’ for Australia

Trump has been charged over allegedly holding onto classified documents after his presidency ended.

ABC News was told that he didn’t show Pratt any documents during their 2021 chat, or at any other time they were both at Mar-a-Lago.

Pratt claims he told people about his meeting with Trump to demonstrate how he was “advocating” for Australia within the US.

It’s not clear which Australian officials he shared the information with. But former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said it wasn’t him.

“Trump did ask me in early 2017 why we were buying French rather than US subs,” Turnbull said.

“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. Sovereignty was of the utmost importance to my government.”

A Trump spokesperson has slammed the reports, telling CNN on Friday that the claims “lack proper context and relevant information.”

“The Department of Justice should investigate the criminal leaking, instead of perpetrating their baseless witch-hunts while knowing that President Trump did nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted in a proper manner, according to the law,” the spokesperson said.

Pratt is yet to respond publicly.

Two years before Pratt and Trump’s meeting, the pair toured the Pratt Paper Plant in Wapakoneta, Ohio, with then-prime minister Scott Morrison.

Morrison and Trump with Pratt at his Ohio paper plant. Photo: Getty

On Friday, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the conversation came before the Morrison and Biden governments finalised the AUKUS agreement – a key feature of which is Australia’s purchase of nuclear-powered submarines from the US. Birmingham said the chat would not have included what Australia was doing to seal the deal.

“There may have been … hypotheticals about whether Australia should access American technology or submarines,” he told Sky News on Friday.

“Of course, these are highly sensitive materials and information and it’s why so much care needs to go into how we engage with the United States.”

The AUKUS agreement was unveiled by Morrison, Britain’s then-prime minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden in September 2021.

The pathway to acquiring nuclear submarines was unveiled by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in March this year.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has been contacted.