Trump’s planned drawdown in Afghanistan and total withdrawal from Syria triggered a backlash from the U.S. national security establishment earlier this month, including the resignation of top officials like former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. The tweet came after Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel testified on Capitol Hill. The president’s tweets criticizing intelligence officials also alarmed Democratic leadership in the House and Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote a letter to intelligence leaders this week urging them to stage an “intervention” with Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), meanwhile, said it was “courageous” that intelligence officials “spoke truth to power.

Source: Huffington Post January 31, 2019 22:07 UTC