Despite every effort to keep plans for President Obama's trip to Afghanistan Tuesday under wraps, reports leaked hours ahead of his arrival raising concerns about the president's security. Reports from Afghan news station TOLONews that the president had arrived in Kabul were picked up by The New York Post, the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua and other media outlets before the White House's embargo on reporting the news had expired. The U.S. National Security Council reportedly instructed Buzzfeed to remove news it had tweeted about Obama's trip, arguing that it could endanger Obama's life, MSNBC reported. The Post removed its report too. Ronald Kessler, a political reporter who has written extensively on presidential security told msnbc.com that an early report on a surprise visit "clearly endangers the president when he's going into a war zone."
