Trump Claims Intelligence Officials Were “Misquoted” (They Testified To Senate On Live National Television)

Politico reports:



President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that his top intelligence officials were “misquoted” and “taken out of context” when they publicly broke with some of his core foreign policy views during congressional testimony earlier this week.

CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Tuesday shared assessments that were at odds with Trump’s talking points on sensitive issues such as North Korea and ISIS, prompting Trump to lash out at his intelligence officials, calling them “naive” and that they should “go back to school.”

But later Thursday afternoon, after meeting with Haspel and Coats in the Oval Office, Trump struck a different tone. He argued the comments were taken out of context — though a full report and recordings are publicly available — and that his intelligence team actually agrees with his world view.