Donald Trump’s bizarre appearance at the CIA on Saturday drew rave reviews … from Trump himself, who tweeted that he received “long standing ovations,” and his chief of staff Reince Priebus, who called it a “love fest.” Other reviewers weren’t so kind, starting with former CIA Director John Brennan, who called it a “despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of C.I.A.’s Memorial Wall of Agency heroes” and said Trump “should be ashamed of himself.” According to Priebus, Brennan is just “bitter” because Trump is replacing him. Fine, then! Let’s set Brennan aside and check out what some other current and former intelligence officials have to say.
“What self-centered, irrational decision process got him to this travesty?” [30-year CIA veteran John] MacGaffin told me. “Most importantly, how will that process serve us when the issues he must address are dangerous and incredibly complex? This is scary stuff!”
Hmmm. That doesn’t sound good. But maybe people currently working in intelligence felt differently? Not so much.
U.S. intelligence officials tell CBS News Mr. Trump’s visit to CIA headquarters was “uncomfortable,” and that he “made relations with the intelligence community worse.”
And really, you don’t have to be an uncritical fan of the CIA to realize that its people might be sharp enough to be suspicious when Trump went from comparing the leak of an intelligence dossier on him to Nazi Germany to showing up at the CIA and claiming that “we’re on the same wavelength” and “you’re going to get so much backing. Maybe you’re going to say, Please don’t give us so much backing. Mr. President, please, we don’t need that much backing.” (How creepy is it that Trump can’t talk about offering support without making it sound like a threat?)
All hail the Gaslighter-in-Chief.