A day after ridiculing his top intelligence officials as “passive and naive” and claiming they were ignorant about world affairs, President Trump on Thursday said the media had fabricated a conflict and that the officials were “misquoted” by the press after a public congressional hearing that was carried live on television. “Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office,” Trump tweeted, with a picture of CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and others seated around the Resolute Desk. The officials “told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media - and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc.,” Trump wrote. A representative for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to a request for comment. Time will prove me right, probably.”The Republican and Democratic leaders of the intelligence committee defended the officials.

Source: Washington Post January 31, 2019 23:55 UTC