As the transition progresses, Trump is eyeing one of his favorite targets: US intelligence

washington – Donald Trump has long been skeptical of the country’s spy services, accusing them of trying to undermine his first term and campaigns. Now he Returning to the White HouseTrump’s promise to overhaul US intelligence agencies has put him on a collision course with one of the most secretive and powerful parts of the government.

Trump announced he will run for office on Tuesday evening John Ratcliffe Leading the Central Intelligence Agency. Ratcliffe, a former Republican congressman from Texas, served as director of national intelligence in the final months of Trump’s first term and led the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. He is a more traditional choice for the position, which requires Senate confirmation, than some rumored loyalist candidates pushed by some Trump supporters.

For the CIA and other intelligence agencies, the start of Trump’s second administration is a way to reset relations. often a difficult relationship With a leader who has in the past dismissed them as the deepest reaches of the deep state — Trump’s name for the thousands of federal career employees who handle government business no matter who is president.

For Trump, return to power offers him the opportunity to fulfill his promises to cleanse the house of the authorities he believes are trying to do challenges his leadership And criticize his actions.

Risks relationship Relations with spy agencies couldn’t get any higher than that, and are almost certain to be reflected in Trump’s appointments to senior positions.

Former and current intelligence officials are also looking for clues about whether Trump will use U.S. intelligence to inform his foreign policy and national security decisions or whether he will realize his critics’ fears. spilling hidden secrets or call weaponize Intelligence work against the Americans.

“If he comes back determined to take revenge and clean house, it will impact the agency. We’re going to lose people, and the fear will set in: ‘What’s going to happen that will get me in trouble politically?'” said Douglas London, a 34-year CIA veteran who now writes about intelligence work and teaches at Georgetown University.

London said that in his experience, intelligence officials work hard to avoid any appearance of partisanship and put their constitutional oaths before politics.

London added: “There’s little agency officials can do except show: ‘We’re here, we’re on your team, we’re here to support you.'”

Trump signaled his intention the day after winning his second term.

“We will purge all corrupt actors from our national security and intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them,” Trump said in a video released last week. “Weaponized departments and institutions will be completely overhauled.”

In an effort to overcome any difficulties with the president-elect, intelligence agencies are emphasizing their nonpartisan mission and their usefulness to the incoming president seeking to understand a complex world. wars in Ukraine And Middle East The growing partnership between China and Russia, North Korea and Iran.

Intelligence officials would not say whether Trump had already received an intelligence briefing, but the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement saying it was following a standard procedure for new presidents dating back to the election of Dwight Eisenhower.

“ODNI follows a tradition of providing intelligence briefings to the president-elect that has been in place since 1952,” the office wrote.

During his time in the White House or on the campaign trail, Trump was anything but conventional; He has displayed hostility toward the nation’s spy agencies not seen since Richard Nixon, believing the CIA and other agencies were trying to undermine his presidency.

Trump often rail He railed against the CIA and other spy agencies, accusing them of trying to undermine his first administration and prevent him from taking back the White House. there is that too He blamed intelligence officials Because he questions his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has received fewer intelligence briefings as president than other recent commanders in chief. In 2021, President Joe Biden suggested that Trump should no longer receive the standard intelligence briefings given to former presidents. Calls Trump “undecided”.”

Trump was also accused mishandling of confidential documents In his mansion at Mar-a-Lago – a case now prosecutors stood in the courts They are trying to calm down after the election.

Elbridge Colby, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense in the first Trump administration, said Trump’s victory gave him the authority to realize his national security and intelligence vision.

Colby stated that the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as China’s growing competition, showed that Trump did not have time to be sensitive to the country’s national security and intelligence agencies, and likened them to the Titanic heading towards the iceberg.

“If you turn the Titanic 90 degrees, people will fall out of their bunks, chandeliers and beautiful plates will break,” Colby said on Tucker Carlson’s web show Sunday. “But this is where we are. … President Trump went against the system.”