Trump has relentlessly attacked US intelligence agencies, snuggled up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and divulged secrets to foreign officials, potentially burning high-value sources. This behaviour had already raised serious concerns about whether Trump can be trusted to receive sensitive intelligence at all. Now, intelligence leaders must ask themselves how far they are willing to go in toeing the White House line. Trump’s antipathy toward intelligence agencies has far-reaching implications for US national security. The Ukraine affair also offers an indication of how Trump will deal with intelligence threatening his re-election.

Source: Irish Examiner October 02, 2019 23:03 UTC