*WASHINGTON: *Donald Trump’s relations with his own intelligence serviceshave never been so fraught: the US president doesn’t listen to his spychiefs, doesn’t seem to rank his sources and makes snap decisions withoutgiving them any warning.
The two sides have clashed repeatedly, including in May when, as part ofefforts to defend himself against collusion accusations, Trump agreed thatfiles on the investigation into Russian election meddling in 2016 could bedeclassified.
A few weeks later, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats announced hewould step down as head of the 17 agencies that make up the intelligencecommunity.
Trump proposed as Coats’s replacement John Ratcliffe, a member of Congressknown for repeating conspiracy theories on *Fox News*.
Under withering criticism, Ratcliffe withdrew his nomination.
But the president passed over Coats’s deputy Sue Gordon, who was in line toserve as acting director.
Gordon, who spent a quarter-century in the CIA, told the Women’s ForeignPolicy Group this month that Trump was the first president “in myexperience that had no foundation or framework to understand what thelimits of intelligence are, what the purpose of it was and the way that wediscuss it.”
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She said Trump’s typical response in briefings was, “I don’t think that’strue.”
Her experience was borne out by a former CIA analyst who now works at aprestigious institution in Washington.
“When I was in the CIA, the big thing to do was to get an article in thepresidential daily brief. It was always a big thing. That was gold,professionally speaking,” he said.
The former analyst, who served under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama,added that “I knew that both of them took that thing extremely seriously.-APP/AFP
