July 03, 2020

A New Chapter in Fraught Ties Between President, Spies

Featuring: Andrea Kendall-Taylor

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Journalists: Warren P. Strobel, Dustin Volz

President Trump’s combative relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies has made it difficult for officials to speak candidly to him or the public about national security threats throughout his tenure, particularly those involving Russia, according to current and former officials.

Blunt talk by officials about threats ranging from North Korea’s nuclear program to Russian election interference has resulted in Twitter-powered fusillades or private tongue-lashings from Mr. Trump—and contributed to his dismissals of senior intelligence officials seen as insufficiently loyal, the officials said.

The challenges of communicating intelligence that President Trump may not want to hear are on renewed display amid revelations about intelligence assessments that Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to carry out attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Read the full story and more in The Wall Street Journal.

Author

  • Andrea Kendall-Taylor

    Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program

    Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She works on national security ch...