Dec 4, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Former intelligence official: Trump often didn't believe our findings

Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon said in a speech to the Women's Foreign Policy Group Tuesday that President Trump often didn't believe intelligence officials' findings during briefings, citing his most common responses, CNN reports.

"One, 'I don't think that's true.' ... one is 'I'm not sure I believe that,' and the other is the second order and third order effects. 'Why is that true? Why are we there? Why is this what you believe? Why do we do that?' Those sorts of things."
— Gordon quoting Trump to Women's Foreign Policy Group, per CNN

Why it matters: Trump has had a fraught relationship with intelligence agencies. This appears to be another example of his skepticism of the intelligence community.

  • In July, the president said he thought loyalist Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) would be an "incredible" replacement for outgoing National Intelligence Director Dan Coats because "we need somebody like that that's strong and can really rein it in," per CNN. "As you've all learned, the intelligence agencies have run amok," he said.

The big picture: Gordon is widely respected in the intelligence community and was supposed to assume automatically under federal statute the role of acting director of national intelligence upon Coats' departure.

  • But sources told Axios' Jonathan Swan that Trump never intended to pick her, and she resigned in August. That enabled Trump to appoint counterterrorism official Joseph Maguire to the acting role after Ratcliffe withdrew himself from consideration.

Go deeper:

Go deeper

Axios
1 hour ago - Sports

13 members of St. Louis Cardinals test positive for coronavirus

Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Seven players and six staff members from the St. Louis Cardinals have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past week, prompting the MLB to postpone the team's upcoming four-game series against the Detroit Tigers.

Why it matters: Seven consecutive Cardinals games have now been canceled after St. Louis became the second team to report a significant coronavirus outbreak, just two weeks into the season.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 p.m. ET: 18,149,860 — Total deaths: 690,624 — Total recoveries — 10,753,318 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3 p.m. ET: 4,690,404 — Total deaths: 155,124 — Total recoveries: 1,468,689 — Total tests: 56,812,162 — Map.
  3. Politics: White House will require staff to undergo randomized coronavirus testing — Pelosi says Birx "enabled" Trump on misinformation.
  4. Business: Virtual school is another setback for retail — The pandemic hasn't hampered health care.
  5. Public health: Former FDA chief says MLB outbreaks should be warning sign for schools.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
2 hours ago - Podcasts

White House adviser Peter Navarro talks TikTok

President Trump has relaxed his threat to immediately ban the popular social media app TikTok, giving Microsoft room to negotiate an acquisition from Chinese tech giant ByteDance.

Axios Re:Cap digs into the situation with Peter Navarro, the White House's top trade adviser and a noted China hawk, who suggests Microsoft should be forced to make unrelated concessions related to its China operations.