What Does The CIA Think About Trump?
January 27, 2017
We can never “know” another’s inner world, but this article helps answer the question “What does the CIA think about Trump?” Recently Donald Trump has described himself as an ally of our CIA, so it’s a fine time for Trump Watchdogs to explore this FAQ.
Context: Trump-CIA Meeting – January 21, 2017
While meeting with the CIA on Saturday, Donald J. Trump publicly stated that reports of friction between himself and the government intelligence agency were lies generated by journalists. You can read the transcript of his 15-minute speech with that claim. Regardless of what actually transpired at the meeting, Trump tweeted the following:
Thousands of replies to that tweet challenge Donald’s report. Here are just two quick points about that particular meeting:
Trump told “alternative facts.” For one, the media did not need to manufacture tales of discord between Trump and intelligence. Like, there was that time a couple of weeks ago when Trump likened the CIA to Nazis. And that time he said “maybe there is no hacking” two days after the CIA reported that Russia was hacking to influence the 2016 presidential election. Stuff like that.
Trump reportedly added a laugh track to his CIA meeting. The transcript notes laughter when he describes the media as dishonest, and you might assume that it came from our intelligence community — but claps and chuckles were courtesy of paid attendees according to CBS and Snopes.
Now let’s look at what a few CIA insiders have said about Donald Trump.
What A Former CIA Leader Said About Donald Trump And Russia
In August 2016 the former CIA Director Michael Morell published his assessment of Russian influence over Donald Trump. He noted that over 40 years of voting, he had supported Democrats and Republicans. “As a government official, I have always been silent about my preference for president. No longer. On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton.” His rationale in the New York Times is two-pronged, resting upon praise for Hillary Clinton’s competence and the following critique of Donald Trump:
“President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was a career intelligence officer, trained to identify vulnerabilities in an individual and to exploit them. That is exactly what he did early in the primaries. Mr. Putin played upon Mr. Trump’s vulnerabilities by complimenting him. He responded just as Mr. Putin had calculated…
Mr. Putin is a great leader, Mr. Trump says, ignoring that he has killed and jailed journalists and political opponents, has invaded two of his neighbors and is driving his economy to ruin. Mr. Trump has also taken policy positions consistent with Russian, not American, interests — endorsing Russian espionage against the United States, supporting Russia’s annexation of Crimea and giving a green light to a possible Russian invasion of the Baltic States.
In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.”
Also following Trump’s meeting with the CIA on Saturday, another former CIA Deputy Director Philip Mudd concluded that Trump was a self-obsessed ass. He reportedly stated, “You almost want to cry.”
What The Current CIA Says About Donald Trump And Russia
In 2016 the CIA initiated a task force to investigate Trump’s connections with Russia. For an apparently still ongoing investigation, the CIA recruited agents from the FBI and other government intelligence agencies. Likely related to this effort is news from a December 9, 2016 report in the Washington Post that begins:
The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.
Furthermore, following Trump’s Saturday CIA meeting, one key intelligence assessment is that Trump’s comments about Iraq that day made the US less secure. Specifically Trump criticized the US decision to not seize Iraqi oil fields when at war. He concluded, “So we should have kept the oil, OK? Maybe you’ll get another chance.” Thus on his first day following inaugural balls, Trump had the balls and lack of sense to provide anti-American terrorists with fodder WHILE appearing before the CIA. He presented our nation as one that plans to attack Muslim-majority nations and take their oil.
Given the above, Trump Watchdogs aren’t convinced by Trump’s tweets and soundbites describing a rosy relationship with the CIA.
Hound your lawmakers, Watchdogs! Whether Trump is putting a blackout on the EPA or trying to bring Tillerson onto his Cabinet, it’s likely part of a towering Trump conflict of interest. Contact your government reps via congress.gov/members.