What to say about a "man" who thinks he knows everything. He "knows more than the generals' and he alone can fix the problems of our once great country.
The GOP in the Senate are no better in that they will do nothing to reign him in. They let him lie without correcting him. They let him flout our Constitution. They let him praise our enemies while denigrating our own security agencies.
When will this stop? When will the Senate get enough courage to stop him? I suppose they do not want to go against their "base" base or the NRA. to say nothing of the tweet storm trump will write.
There is a quote by H.L. Mencken who must have been a seer when he wrote:
“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and a complete narcissistic moron."
H. L. Mencken. The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
14
So what is new?
We all know Kim is not going to back off his weapons program, he sells it as a defense of their country same as Trump sells the need to spend ever more and more on our defense.
Everyone also knows Kim is not going to commit suicide by attacking the US, neither is Russia nor China nor Venezuela nor Cuba. So much for fear tactics.
We all also know that Iran is not building a nuclear arsenal, they are too smart to as their needs are more urgent in the area of protecting their people against further American Imperialism. This condition would not exist if the US had not overthrown their Democracy after WWII.
We all know Trump has money deals with our real enemy, Saudi Arabia that spreads Wahabbi terror world wide and he needs a scape goat to focus on and keep the light off his money deals. Just like Hitler needed the Jews to focus hatred on, Trump needs Iran to keep his hatred alive with those who live in fear of his tweets and propaganda.
So, I ask again, "what's new"?
7
No matter what proof about anything is brought before him trump will ignore it. After all he "knows more than the generals" and he alone can "fix the problems of the US of A.
He is a real clear and present danger and the GOP in the Senate are so cowardly, money and power hungry, they will do nothing.
12
These statements are coming from Republicans appointed by Trump. Why would they make this public statement? The only reason that I can think of is to persuade Congress and the American people that the President has been giving out too much false information. They also might be worried about Trump's "secrecy" in his meeting with Putin. Trump is "insulted" that the FBI would investigate whether Trump is a "Russian asset." What are rational people supposed to think when there had been so much contact between Trump's campaign team and Russian officials, many in the intelligence field, Trump has meetings with Putin that no other Americans attend, bragged to a Russian official after he fired Comey for not closing down the Russian investigation, phony ads on Facebook during the campaign to hurt Clinton, his plea to ask the Russians to find Hillary's deleted emails, which they soon began looking for according to our intelligence officials, and his fear of Mueller's investigation. Wouldn't an innocent person welcome such an investigation?
8
The United States is being led by a fool who considers himself a genius. Yet, Republicans in Congress refuse to govern.
13
The GOP should be included in the threat assessment.
16
If Mr. Trump has any shame, this report should make him blush. It should remind him, for the umpteenth time, that he is incapable of seeing the real threats the country faces and that he wastes his time and resources dwelling on imaginary ones. His demand for border wall stems from one of the latter.
Let's talk about the real threats discussed in this report. None is graver than the cyberthreats unleashed by Russia and China. Cyberattacks from Russia have shaken the very foundation of our democracy. Why doesn't Trump accuse Russia of the crime? Stay tuned for special counsel Mueller to complete his Russia probe.
And when it comes to North Korea, it took only a few flattering words from its murderous dictator for Trump to fall in love with him and to tweet that “there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” Now, his own intelligence chiefs, in “starkest contradiction,” have refuted his claim.
Again, if only he had consulted one of them, he wouldn’t have given the stupid reason for withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria: that “we have won against ISIS.” As stated in this report, intelligence data say that ISIS is alive and well and would continue “to stoke violence.”
And what about the reason he gave for withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal? He said that if allowed to stand, Iran would “be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons.” Again, as stated in this report,“The agreement still stands" and the world is the better for it.
7
I don't think I've ever watched Fox News. But I just went to their website and saw no mention of the Congressional hearings and the presentation of the intelligence community's presentations. I thought I must have been missing something. Can somebody else confirm this? Could this be true that they just didn't report this at all? On the other hand the top story is that there's a secret draft showing the Democrats struck so help me God from the oath of giving testimony. Can this even be confirmed? Anyway, this is what they're leadin
g with
This is how you can destroy a democracy. A significant amount of people look at this source and believe it is accurate. As an entity, Fox News is sociopathic.
11
You leave out that Coats also said the same thing Trump has said, ISIS is defeated militarily in Iraq and Syria. ISIS can always commit acts of terror.
As far as Iran not taking steps to build a nuclear weapon:
Iran restarting uranium enrichment, nuclear chief says
https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-restarting-uranium-enrichment-nuclear-chief-says/
And there never has and their never will be a nuclear threat from North Korea. They ain't stupid.
2
At this point I am pretty sure Iran must know that Trump is a corrupt idiot, who was put in the White House thanks to help from Putin.
I never voted for Trump and was very surprised to see the sudden shift towards the end of the vote count. For sure, there is no way that such a sudden shift could happen without someone manipulating the votes. The 3 million. or so, higher popular votes going to the other candidate should have set off the alarms, big time.
6
Trump met alone with Putin, Melania, and a Russian translator.
No American translators.
Melanie's parents were Eastern European communists and speaks many Eastern European languages.
Anyone investigate whether she was/is a Russian plant? An infiltrator set up as part of Rutin's long term plan to wheedle into American government and gain influence????
1
Presidential generalities, puffery, and "Arts of Deals" innuendos are of a general nature and not necessarily CONTRADICTIONS with regard to the more secret levels of intelligence at presidential security briefings. And does the NYT really think that Dan Coates is telling all at public testimony?
1
I’m sure that you are correct, Coats is holding back on the real security threat on the southern border. Or on Pennsylvania Ave.
3
Trump knows everything or so he says.
2
While continuing to prevent Trump from working with Putin's secret orders, the intelligence community should act more vigorously to unmask the true enemies of the American people. Let's hope that Special Counsel Mueller team will issue more indictments before Feb 6, 2019 against bigger would be felons, Trump's children included.
The scourges like Roger J Stone are big fishes, but stll secondary.
4
For two years, Don the Con's incompetence has been in plain sight of every member of Congress. He does not read daily briefings or use the considered information available through this country's vast intelligence network developed over decades to make decisions that affect us all.
Trump's "gut" approach to decisions makes him a very dangerous fool. Nepotism drives this incompetence into a wide range of important policy positions. The blatant corruption taking center stage at the highest levels of our government is having a material effect on our global authority and leadership.
Hoping to wait out his tenure to right this ship is a dangerous mistake. It will take years to regain the confidence of our allies. I directly blame the GOP and their financial supporters for this debacle. Power for the sake of power without policies to promote the general welfare is apparently what the GOP is all about.
6
Anyone with two brain cells knew this all along. Shame on you if you voted for Nixon, Reagan, Bush Jr. or Trump. They did/are doing nothing to brag about. "I am not a crook!", stated Nixon. Yes you are. "Are you better off now, then you were before?" Asked Reagan. Worse off. "Mission accomplished!" Stated dubya. Not so much. As for Pinnochio, there isn't enough space to cover all his lies. Over five thousand and counting. Disgusting.
7
Don Trump has said that he is smarter and knows more than our generals. Well, our so called part time commander in Chief has eschewed the briefing books in place of Mad Magazine.
Thanks Don for giving us your gift of arrogant ignorance for placing this country in extreme jeopardy from Russia, North Korea and ISIS.
I hope a real President and Commander in Chief replaces you in 2020, so this country can busy itself with repairing the incredible damage you have personally inflicted on this country.
4
The Worldwide Threat Assessment confirms what every thinking person, who follows geopolitics, has known for some time:
that our cybersecurity was, and is, dangerously compromised by Russia and China, that Iran poses little nuclear threat, that North Korea, with nuclear weapons and long range missiles, is a threat to the U.S., that ISIS is very active in Syria and Iraq, and Mexico poses no threat.
Each of these things Donald Trump has insisted are not true, and he has been wrong.
The worst is Russia and China's abilitiy to shut down our power supplies by internet, plus their excellent ability to control election outcomes. I doubt the U.S. has anywhere near this capability.
Russia and China's newfound friendship is a menace to us. Trump weakened U.S. power by rejecting our long time Western allies in favor of Saudi Arabia and Russia. We are vulnerable due to Trump insulting our allies, backing out of international accords, and starting ill-begotten trade wars.
There's no nuclear threat from Iran, which all signatories to the nuclear accord know, except for Iran-hating John Bolton and Trump. We have not conquered ISIS.
Trump has lied to the American public about each of these things, misdirected the military, and placed us in danger.
We need to beef up our cyber-security and cyber-attack capabilities, drop the sanctions against Iran and tarifs on our allies, and redirect our energy away from the Southern border. Trump must quit his bromance with Putin.
6
The trump administration has used disinformation against the American people designed to weaken our global positions, falling directly into the hands of our enemies who want to see the US dismantled from the inside. Trump seems to be falling in line with the enemy, empowering global instability, creating national security threats with disinformation, and leaving the American people with superlatives and platitudes that purposefully create an atmosphere of false superiority, creating a sense of false security, while the threat to national security grows and looms ever larger. What side is this administration playing on? Ours or theirs? It can be said that the purpose of this administration is to weaken, not strengthen America, creating what would be considered "opportunity" to dismantle America and leave it to the hungry dogs to devour and spit up. No more foreign investments in America including the cities that stand on those foreign investments. No more foreign investment until we have a new administration. Nationalism until further notice. (I know this is far reaching and questionable.) But it is a viable alternative to being devoured by unseen enemies.
1
Note the repeatedly used phrase "threat against America's interests". As the US is claiming interests all over the world it has become synonymous with "threats against American claims for world rule".
Where are the times when only James Bond villains wanted world rule?
To those who support Donald trump, no matter what he does, you can't just ignore his incompetence any longer. His inability to understand anything except the fantasies he conjures up in his own mind is dangerous to you and our system. The biggest threat may be within.
6
Is it really surprising that the unenlightened observations and conclusions of an ignorant person—and a contrived-reality liar to boot—will contradict the intelligence of men and women who are his diametrical opposite?
You may act against, to protect, but how does one assign blame to a mad man?
What is surprising… or at the beginning was? That Republicans in Congress have done nothing to check or confront this real and present danger to the nation and their own institutions.
It is Republicans, particularly Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, who are left in the deep cold to shoulder the premeditated nature of their knowing complicity and enabling of the insanity in which we have been mired. They have no excuse, apart from their greed and power-lust.
111
Until there is a groundswell realization on just what makes "America Great" the great pretender will be free to continue his duplicity in exercising his reign.
During WW-II 'great' relied on the Nation's industrial capacity. Briefly post WW-II it relied on diplomacy in fashioning an orderly global financial order. In confronting Communism it relied on defending the UN Charter for Human Rights. With the Selma march we redeemed our national covenant of equal rights. While with the advent of the space exploration era the land relied on its science. And as long as growth sustained the economy and middle-class jobs "America Great" meant the amenities of suburbia. None of these remain what they used to be. (Even NASA has lost its luster.)
When a conception becomes concretized (viz., America the Great), its full ramifications become evident over time, often against the explicit anticipation of its founding thinkers or formulators.
So along pops-up Trump. And in the land's sad state of affairs we are conned in to believing our greatness rests in a "wall".
Now in the dismal confusion that confronts the nation its defense team presents damage control for the lack of insight on what truly makes America great in a 21st century.
1
Never underestimate the superb quality of Presidential "GUT".
After all, analysis, reason, common sense, intellectual rational and facts are meaningless.
Besides Presidential "GUT" is more infallible when it Trump Presidential "GUT".
Any question?
1
China, Russia, and North Korea are big threats, but
Jared and his family see wealthy Chinese as real estate investors who can pull them out of debt
Ivanka has her merchandise made in China and probably doesn't want to have to pay a few dollars more to her 'employees'... so China gets a pass
Trump wants to build his hotel in Moscow and he is buddy-buddy with Putin... so Russia gets a pass
Trump is in love with Kim and they want to be able to walk hand in hand in the nuclear sunset while the rest of the world struggles to survive
1
With his misplaced zeal to singlehandedly handle the complex task of shaping country's foreign policy with clearly discernible contemptuous disdain for the State department and the intelligence/security establishment President Trump has not only destroyed the decades old consensus driven US foreign policy architecture that had enabled the US preeminence in world affairs but also exposed the country to multiple threats emanating from diverse sources by pushing allies to the sidelines and embracing the US's sworn enemies as its new allies.
1
The Worldwide Assessment threat is crucial information which should be widely circulated to our population.Trump"s insistence that there is an emergency on our southern border distracts from the greatest threats we face which are cyber attacks from both Russia and China.For Trump disparaging immigrants is so much easier than getting serious and trying to protect Americans from real and deadly threats.Russia attacked our elections- it will not be long before they decide to shut down power grids or other essential services.Trump is not trying to protect the United States-he is trying to befriend the leader of a country which is already harming us.We should all be alarmed!
3
This is beyond stubbornness, do you blame people having the suspicion that Putin has something on Trump & family?
5
If we are to learn anything from our past it is that the United States' "intelligence" community is seldom correct.
2
@Dr. Sam Rosenblum, they were correct in telling Bush and his pals that Iraq didn't have WMD or anything to do with 9/11. Bush had to make his own "intelligence office" in the WH to invent the opposite. Career officers actually do know quite a bit more than Trump's intestines, of that you may be sure.
4
How is it possible that anyone will even listen to the State of the Union address, it's like turning in Info Wars or Brietbart.
6
How is Trump's refusal to act to protect us from known threats not treason?
11
The only people who still believe the lies Trump tells are Trump himself, his cronies, Fox News and some of his voters.
Apart from that, not even his own intelligence services believe them.
Isn't it time for the US to get rid of this regime before they start a war and kill thousands just to cover up their failures and lies?
The US is so active in pursuing (illegal) regime changes in other countries for no other reasons than US politics and the linkings of US politicians, why not apply the same standards on the US and get rid of the Trump regime?
4
America. As a Canadian, your president terrifies me. For him to obsess on a metaphorical wall and to ignore an existential threat to all of us given all of the reports and analysis of his national security experts, is mind boggling and Orwellian. Are the evangelical supporters yearning for the end of the world so they can go to their guaranteed pew in heaven? Are Hannity , Rush, Ann, and Trump's billionaire backers in denial or hoping right wing judges will be their salvation? I do not understand your country , the place of my ancestors for 300 years and where my father was born.
6
The chiefs are so wrong.
The greatest threat to US security is a 10-year-old boy from El Salvador. What if he throws a pebble at someone?
8
I’m thinking the “deep state” that Trump hates is the Intelligence Community and JCS. I’m good with that, at least someone is watching our back.
5
All of this begs the question, yet again, of what purpose is served by a Trump State of the Union address. The man either lies or refuses to accept fact - therefore, of what value are any of his words? As long as Trump remains president, the State of the Union address has zero value.
9
Although Trump has been ranting and raving about the security threats posed by illegal immigration across our southwest border, and has even shutdown the government over his proposed solution, the intelligence chiefs felt it was only worth brief mention buried in their report. We can reasonably conclude what they think about the real nature of the threat. But under the circumstances they should have addressed the matter more pointedly, both for the public and Congress. Aren’t there any Democrats on the Intelligence Committee to at least raise the question? The failure to have the immigration question addressed, at least in its security aspects, is astounding.
4
Dan Coats, the National Intelligence Director said the North’s “leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival.”
Similarly, the threat review declared that “we currently assess North Korea will seek to retain its W.M.D. capability and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capability.”
I believe it is unreasonable to demand and expect North Korea to disarm itself so soon after tensions have abruptly eased after almost 70 years of hot and cold hostilities. The United States China and North and South Korea first need to sign a peace treaty ending the Korean War. The parties then can develop a time table that could extend to a decade and beyond for both the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and an American withdrawal militarily. Donald Trump acted on the long festering instability and danger the Korean issue presented by successfully reducing tensions so far for all the parties involved and the world. The North Korean leaders need yo believe that the United States is not a threat to the regime's survival and the US must demonstrate both now and post Trump that our policy of engagement will continue. Patience and diplomacy can carry the day in this political marathon and move us away from the unending military interventions and the senseless wars that have characterized the militarization of our foreign policy for so long.
2
Most laypeople who voted for Trump do not follow foreign policy, do not understand foreign policy and are not intellectually curious about foreign policy.
Most Trumpers don’t know why, historically, the US and Iran don’t get along. They do not understand how or why North Korea became a global pariah. And they’ve never considered whether relations with these countries should matter to them.
Most Trumpers refuse to do even the bare minimum it takes stay informed and participate in democracy.
If it ain’t trashing brown people or banning abortion, these crazy-scary folks simply aren’t interested.
31
Trump has been contradicting our foreign policy experts from day one of his presidency. Not surprising since he appears to be backing Russian foreign policy for some reason. Could it be they knew he lied about his Russian condo for Putin and his oligarch buddies? Inquiring minds want to know. Mueller, Mueller...
15
Something that comes through clearly here (yet again) is that Mr. Trump makes statements based solely on wishful thinking or fantasies and then sets them in stone, as if he is impervious to reality and incapable of modulating an impulsive thought once it is cast. On the major, fundamental issues of foreign policy he is 180 degrees off but unwilling even to look around let alone change course.
13
I just give up. Trump at least tries to limit our hostilities while the military industrial complex just refuses to stop and reconsider a more peaceful agenda. Scare us is their motto. We can arm ourselves to be ready for any thing but we should stop sending troops and weapons to continue warfare. We should only care about reducing the threat on Nuclear War because there will be no winners. This continued assessment of who is are enemy is a waste of time. Our course should be to look for peace and speak against unfettered nationalism but nationalism with acceptance and understanding that all countries should support each other for world peace. The exceptions are renegade nations that steel from their people and there are several.
2
@richard - The US is one of those governments - using tax breaks for billionaires to take money that should go to strengthen the health and well-being of the entire population. Instead it passes laws that literally take from the poor and give to the rich.
6
Tell me that we are not going to have some "WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION" moments. History does not have to repeat itself. At least not right away. We have to be very careful with our foreign policy. We don't have a very good track record.
1
I shudder when I think about all the threats that are looming on us, and Trump is still obsessing about the stupid wall. Since this country has no foreign policy, no readiness or plans in case of disasters, the outcomes are frightening. In the past, he talked about his generals and how they have put together the best foreign policy ever. Well, the generals are gone, North Korea will never disband their nuclear capabilities, and we know where China and Russia stand. I suppose, we should not worry because Israel and Saudi Arabia will watch our back.
9
It seems pretty straight forward to me. Either you believe that 17 branches of American intelligence have conspired to sabotage one imperial president or one president, who has lied to you every day, is not telling the truth. I'll go with B Alex and continue with "This is obvious People" for 400.
12
Yes.
Unless these people are deep state even the most base must accept this is the truth.
37% of Americans cannot expect to have a monopoly on Truth.
Who was it that said you can fool most of the people.....
Not DJT
4
Trump comes closer to a Russian -- or Soviet -- mole than any president in our nation's history. I don't mean for my statement to imply that he isn't, in fact, a Russian mole.
10
Who, besides Russia, stands to gain from our fragmented system and our lax foreign policies?
The enemy of my enemy is my ally.
Trump burns bridges and alienates friends, making the US vulnerable; it would be a good time for antagonists to mend fences and bury hatchets.
That would be 'the art of the deal'.
9
Wow! Who would have thought that Trump's "gut feel" was inferior to research and actual facts?
After Trump's assurance that "I am really smart" and "I have a great brain" I felt blessed to have such able leadership in the WH.
Turns out that hamburger induced gas pains aren't as predictive as Trump claimed.
Not a problem. Trump will pivot onto the next disaster before his remaining supporters figure out he's inept in this subject too.
15
We should strive for better relations with Russia, China, Iran, and all other countries.
2
Trump world is different from the mere reality in which the rest of us live. His Walter Mitty universe is one where his word creates its own reality--a world free of facts where all of Trump's fantasy wishes are reality, where Trump is a perpetual hero who can do no wrong. Trump thinks that Iran is bad, so be it. Trump thinks that a two-hour conversation with. Kim solved all nuclear issues with North Korea, and so it must be true--and Emperor Donald gets the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is a badly deranged person who has no business running a washing machine let alone a nation. Wake up, America! This madman is leading us into the wilderness.
19
And still, he and his administration, along with his buddy, Bibi, will want to take military action against Iran.
8
Republicans rather fight and counter Democrats over lowerng taxes and making healthcare inaccessible to middle class and poor Americans than countering national security threats from Russia or China. GOP/McConnel is razor focused on getting conservative judges on the Supreme Court so that women is unable to have a reproductive choice, disadvantaged groups are denied access to higher education, gerrymandering is the norm. These ideas are not the best wat to cruise ship America when threats and challenges of the world keeps growing exponentially, like global warming and its consequences.
On Iran, this is what happens when AIPAC has an outsize influence on America's levers of power and decision making. Israel’s propaganda and deception as the oasis in the middle of chaos is masterly executed. Pushing Palestininians to the brink by grabing their land and destroying what little they have is a sad example. Yearning for Obama years. Vote for Sandy Berger.
5
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel a tad uncomfortable when our Defense and Intelligence Communities provide a public laundry list of how vulnerable we have become over the past two years?
I mean, the enemy is listening, too.
6
@LivingWithInterest, they know better than we do. We actually need the information to determine whose leadership the nation needs.
3
again, the so-called "complete, and verifiable and irreversible" denuclearization is an impractical, and bombastic demand. the "you-give-up-nuclear-weapons-first" policy championed by J. Bolton has already proved failure years ago. it is close to a fantasy of hard-liners or romanticists. what is better off in reality is to constrain North Korean nuclear capabilities at controllable levels. what is the best is not make them removed, but useless : deepen the peace between two Koreas, make an effort to turn the armistice into a peace treaty, build a diplomatic relationship between Washington and Pyongyang...and so forth. I hope Trump, Pompeo and Biegun have this in mind.
2
There was a crazy book I read years ago called “Geek Love”. One of the themes it explored was the development of a cult by Arturo, who was born with flippers for arms and legs. The cult of Artursim convinced people to have their arms and legs cut off to be more like Arturo. So this is how I see Trump devotees. Lost causes as reasonable humans.
Intelligence gives information on what it observes going on in the world. I guess there’s a possibility Coats, Haskell, and Wray are biased in the same direction...compare it to the swaggering mess in the WH, and think about Arturo: who would you believe and follow?
6
Trumps willful disregard of the facts given by the intelligence personnel is close to treason. It does great damage to the US. Trumps attitude is adversarial, which is hard to understand as anything else but unbalanced. There is a childhood personality disorder that is said to sometimes persist into adulthood and to harden. it is called Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Read about it. Trump looks like the classic example.
However you look at it, Trump is a danger to American interests, he alienates our allies and refuses to support them. He supports dictators and says nice things about cold blooded, sadistic murders. He surrounds himself with criminals in his administration who are now indicted.. His friends are conspiracy theorists. He undermines procedures and rules and the running of administration departments by appointing fools and deniers. and oppositional,or ignorant people to head departments. He systematically sets about to destroy the government of the US. There is more of this chaos every day.
Is not this against the Constitution?
16
If Donald Trump negotiates with Moscow and Kim Jong-un the way he negotiated with Nancy Pelosi, then we, my fellow Americans, are in deep trouble.
8
OK "Directors," go on national TV in Prime Time and tell all of us the TRUTH about how messed up our government -- and security actually are! Stop the politics! Now! You have FAMILIES, don't you? How much longer must we listen about Trump, Trump, Trump?
The United States of America is in peril, is it not? (And don't forget that U238 going into the ground water out in Washington state!)
4
The Senate hearing with the F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray, the C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel, and the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, which ran over two hours, is available to view or read.
Can you imagine what they have said behind closed doors about the highly classified information that they know?
5
@jhanzel
They meet with the Senate (and House) all the time. That's oversight.
1
The Democrats just need to give Mr Trump a great big beautiful firewall. Tell him that concrete and steel have nothing on fire, and that not only will it keep out those dangerous terrorists and rapists from Central America, but the Chinese too.
2
@A. F. G. Maclagan
YES! A firewall would be far more effective than any real wall.
3
Lots of recent reporting about trump-putin meetings where no American official is allowed to attend and the only translators present are Russia's translators. Why is trump doing this? What do you think they talk about? What makes sense?
Historically, trump has proved that whatever he says he is or isn't doing, trump is doing the exact opposite - he is lying. We all know the examples. So, what do you think they really are talking about?
Their not neighbors or old college buddies, so the only thing that makes sense, is that they are planning for the 2020 election.
Along the way, trump has to prove his continued fealty to Putin. To kill two birds with one stone, it's plausible to imagine that trump is sharing his US Intelligence Briefings with Putin. For example,
"They are listening to your phone and here's what they've learned about XYZed." or "They've hacked into your spy network and can see when you do XYZed."
Life is so simple. Putin really wants those sanctions lifted and trump really wants a second term and that Trump Tower Moscow. trump says they only talked about adoptions...
Who you gonna believe?
21
@LivingWithInterest...this is why I read the NYT comments sections. Great points!
7
Our military and intelligence agencies are less trustworthy than even Trump. The very reason for the existence of ISIS is the propaganda these agencies used to lead us into an unjustified war against Iraq. North Korea exists because of their failures in the Korean War. The bulk of our budget is spent to fund military and intelligence institutions - their continued existence and draining of our resources that could be used for far more productive purposes depends on them keeping us in a constant state of fear. Time to stop accepting the claims of their mouthpieces, particularly where it is clear that they have no articulable plan for how our intervention in the matters will solve anything. For example, what is the end game in Syria - the answer is there is none. And Iran, the country that actually invaded our embassy, our sovereign territory under international law, can never be trusted to comply with any agreement they make regarding nuclear weapons or anything else.
1
We overthrew their government in 1950s and installed the Shah. We are now paying the price. We should apologize.
2
I am sorry ... indeed very, very sorry, since I hoped that Trump might actually implement some of his promises which sounded good and feasible ... that associating the leader of the most powerful military and economy in the world, ever, with "Intelligence " is a non sequitur.
6
We are all sorry for all those who got conned and didn’t see Trump’s part was prologue...
Now, we all suffer from someone who is simply incapable, immature, unqualified and now contributes to the instability in the world and leaving us open to any kind of attack.
We are In danger with this entire Administration and I have never been more afraid...
12
Our most lethal national security threats are China and Russia.
Iran has stayed in compliance, but maybe not for long.
The intelligence chiefs danced around Trumps false claims, and utter incompetence.
And we still don't know what Trump and Putin talked about in private.
12
This and Senator McConnell's rebuke amounts to the handwriting on the wall.
4
The headline should be “Trump contradicts his intelligence leadership” not vice versa!
5
My goodness:
Here are the Elders of the Deep States,
directly contradicting Dear Leader Donnie.
The audacity.
Why do they not acknowledge the Great Helmsman is much more in touch with the world situation than they are?
After all,
how many times have THEY had private secret meetings with President Putin?
4
Of course they do. They have intelligence. Trump does not.
9
First, these Intel leaders need to be protected from being fired. Trump's power needs to be, somehow, redirected. The danger he represents to America is clear. Second. He should not be allowed to shut down the government again, espesically now that it is known that the U.S. electrical grid is compromised. In fraught times like this there needs to be a law forbidding another government shutdown. Third, it needs to become personal by using his name in bills that seek to restrain him so that they do not deform the presidency for future presidents. But honestly? The barn door may be open and the horses gone.
7
Intelligence assessments become worthless when a President refuses to accept, then act on them.
10
When asked about our comprehensive intelligence testimony today Mitch McConnell said something to the effect of he “didn’t follow it or pay attention”.
This is where people scream, “God what’s happening?” He didn’t follow it?? What madness!
21
I wonder what the Russians have on Mitch. He’s taken some very peculiar positions on a number of national security problems.
4
It's known the cited CIA threats are the actual threats we face; only a naif would think otherwise. Trump is many bad things but is no naif. He has foreign policy hardliners on his staff including Bolton, whether you agree with them or not. Of course he knows Russia worked to co-opt the '16 election but won't say it publicly to save face or look the stooge. That doesn't mean he is not countering it in the future: he doesn't intend to be pushed around by anyone including Putin.
The real question is not who is right in their threat assessment, but why is the president in disagreement with the status quo policy? Give the 'being blackmailed' or 'traitor to his country' tropes a rest to think more geo-strategically.
Is he abandoning S Korea believing it indefensible and concentrating on China? Or is it that we can we agree to a real truce with NK, pull out troops/cash somewhat to not be stretched thin? Is he tilting toward Russia as we did in WII, but now to counter China not Germany, by seeming to distance the US from the EU? Does he believe we should not be in a perpetual land war with ISIS but fight them only as needed w SEALs/drones rather than be bled to death?
Eisenhower rightly said beware of the military-industrial complex and that includes the CIA. Does the CIA, etc. create our foreign policy or does an elected president, R or D? Who is in charge in a democracy? Can we reset the paradigm by challenging the status quo or doomed to endless repetition?
About time. News Flash - The Dotard is a Dotard.
7
Speaking of the Chinese government's control of the economy, General Ashley said, “It is really authoritarian capitalism in the way the government provides oversight and puts very strict rules in place." "Yes!" said President Trump, "Authoritarian capitalism, that's what I'm talking about! I want what they have." Anyone doubt the truth of that? Or the fact that a sizable part of his followers are happy to yield it to him? It is essential to end Republican rule at every level of our government.
13
The stable genius in the WH will save us all.
5
Everything he touches hurts America and democracy. It's too consistent to be coincidence. He's batting 1.000.
Someone, anyone... name one thing he has done that has made us better or safer?
Admit it... every thought you just had went the other way.
If he isn't working for Russia, he sure as heck slipped and fell into everything they've ever dreamed of.
15
"Dan Coats ... said North Korea is “unlikely to completely give up” its nuclear stockpiles and Iran is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. Both statements contradict the Trump administration, which met with North Korea and abandoned the Iran nuclear deal."
When it comes to North Korea (NK) and Iran, the US foreign policy is not based on what Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, thinks or says. It is based on what Donald Trump, the great transactional president, wants. And he has actually expressed, here and there, some of his thoughts on those subjects.
He has told Kim Jung-Un that NK has "great beaches, perfect for building condos and hotels." Reading between the lines, he is signaling Kim that he would help the tourist industry of NK to flourish, provided that Trump Organization will be allowed to buy cheap ocean-view lands and use cheap North Korean labor to build a chain of hotels there.
When it comes to Iran, what Mr. Trump wants has not been clearly verbalized. What we know is that his ideas on Iran are largely formed by Benjamin Netanyahu's designs for that country. To speculate, he may have promised Bibi that he will be open to bombing a few Iranian cities, provided that Trump Organization will be issued building permit for a Hotel, preferably across the street from the brand new US Embassy. Don't be surprised if Trump Organization has already bought the land!
12
Its clear this century's warfare will be cyber / AI focused between major world powers and lower-level non-state terrorism in "third-world countries". Our nation's intelligence community has been saying this for years. There is a vast yawning disconnect between the threats we face and where the money is being spent.
Examples include the US taxpayer funding $700 Billion Defense budgets, with high-tech fighter planes (1,000 F-35 JSF warplanes) at $250 Million each; aircraft carrier (USS Ford) at $13 Billion; US Military bases in over 80 foreign countries, etc. Let's not forget the plans to spend $1Trillion to update our nuclear arsenal.
Why must we continue to fund the military to fight the wars of the last century?
10
Not to bring up a sore spot, but didn't 9/11 happen because someone wasn't paying attention to intelligence briefs? I'll knock on wood.
18
George W. Bush’s Daily Brief
6 August 2001
“Bin Ladin determined to strike in
U S”
10
At least all 17,000 federal intelligence agencies didn't testify against Trump in total agreement. Step in the right direction.
2
Seems the only intelligence assessment that Trump believes are those delivered by Putin? Just amazing.
13
Trump’s disregard of our intelligence services is part of the attempt to be the ultimate determination of the direction of his government as it is without outside input. Essentially a closed loop for an uneducated, autocratic leader aiming to weaken our democracy for his own aggrandizement. Trump feels threatened by our democratic principles because they inhibit his free wheeling sense of right and wrong.
6
Given the fact that John Bolton would like nothing more than to go to war with Iran, the most important key judgement of the bunch is that which says that Iran still hews to the multilateral nuclear accord (JCPOA) which Trump denounced.
The big question is Why? I suspect it reflects an Iranian vie that to go nuclear would greatly endanger Iran, perhaps a sign that the mullahs maintain a modicum of common sense even though Bolton and the President do not.
7
Give me a break. Comparing the testimony by these national security people with the president's political goals is unfair. It's like comparing the proverbial apple and orange.
The national security people are supposed to report on where they think things are and where they are headed. The president is supposed to decide what to do about it.
2
Speaking truth to power...now the power needs to hear it. That is the issue.
4
Business as usual that’s what they want because it is there personal interests. Time to stop pretending to be the p9ice of the world. Hard on the military families and hard on the budget.
2
Trump is a danger to the United States but the Democrats are also a danger to the United States since they are now only making it more possible for Trump to win again in 2020.
Democrats lost in 2016 since they offered poor white voters nothing, while Trump pretended he was offering something.
Democratic politicians stay away from poor white voters and they will lose in 2020 unless they offer poor white voters things that Trump can not give them.
Instead of the idea of taxing the rich, Democrats should be offering no tax for poor working Americans. This would include poor white working Americans and also poor working Americans that are not white.
Americans will vote for less taxes for themselves but are l not to vote for high taxing of the rich.
Democrats should also claim that they will set the US minimum wage to $15.
Democrats also should be offering all senior Americans a new Medicare program where the government pays for all medical expenses. Senior Americans with Medicare should not have to pay for medical bills. The idea of seniors with Medicare having to buy other health insurance is wrong.
If the above was offered by Democrats the poor white Americans that voted for Trump would vote instead for a Democrat. Democrats would also have more votes for the lower middle class.
But the question is whether Democrats can change.
1
Hmmm. This says 44% of Americans don't pay income tax. Assuming the poverty rate is below 44%, which seems likely, I think your point on taxation is not well-taken.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/81-million-americans-wont-pay-any-federal-income-taxes-this-year-heres-why-2018-04-16
4
@Bob S, even the poor pay taxes on all they buy.
1
Although maybe we've all become numbed by so much truly horrifying evidence that Trump is governing the country on the basis of Fox News shows, I was still struck by how he said he was going to consult Lou Dobbs on foreign policy. How should we take that statement, if not by having him hauled away to a mental evaluation? The most obvious explanation is that he simply has no real interest in or concern about foreign policy, only his political image, an impression reinforced by his reversing himself on the Congressional budget after Rush Limbaugh objected to his abandoning the wall. Such narcissistic governance is frightening enough. But far more frightening is the possibility that on security matters Trump truly can't tell the difference between Lou Dobbs and the country's intelligence services. Of course, Trump is quite keen on international affairs when it involves his hotels, golf courses or anything else that he can put his name on (since that's the only way he can make money - doing nothing). But he seems to have no conception of security in any way we'd find familia: risk assessments, balances of power, terrorism, nuclear v. conventional weapons, etc. That's all a game for him, which involves only determining how to strut and lie to thrill his provincial, ignorant, xenophobic, gullible base. Trump as commander in chief comes off less like a reality TV show host than a game show contestant, yelling to the audience, "Door number one or door number two?"
12
Excellent assessment. This is a dangerous game show.
6
I can understand that this contradiction about Trump and Intelligence chiefs.
Contradiction doesn't matter a bit for Trump.
But
Pompeo? This makes him literally clown of the King. He is okay with that? I think he is.
7
In articles like this one, I never see a mention or discussion of our abilities to counter-cyber-attack Russia and China. Is there a cyber version of MAD ?
2
Well,,yes, Russia is a threat but Trump can’t say that since he’s beholden to them. The CIA not so much, so they can speak up.
2
ANY Intelligent assessment of current/future potential Global threats would include those most obvious and logical determinations regarding North Korea and Iran.
By intelligent assessment I mean any carried out by a reasonably well informed and educated lay person who keeps themselves abreast of current affairs and have some knowledge of recent world history and events.
That means you, me and more people around the world than many would give thought to.
In terms of the outtake on North Korea and Iran as presented, it certainly does not require the resources of all American national security and Intelligence operations to come to a conclusion that was and is obvious to many.
2
I propose a Constitutional Amendment that requires the President to pass a multiple choice test on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and National Science Foundation and to recite his answers out loud once per month on the Capitol steps.
5
He'd find a way to cheat. I'd put money on it.
2
Hallelujah! The intelligence community finally got smart. Now if the Senate Republicans can get smart enough to dump McConnell another of the real
‘national emergencies’ will be gone.
4
This article confirms that far and away the biggest threat to the United States is the abysmal ignorance of its president.
11
All the national intelligence agencies also stated publicly that Russia interfered with the 2016 election we’ll before the Mueller indictments started rolling out.
4
Do we know if most Americans believe that Trump actually does work ? Watching tv all day doesn’t qualify as a Commander in chief . Thank God we have brilliant people in The military who care about democracy and freedom vs the swamp administration of do nothing dummies and traitors .
5
Does anyone remember, or know, when did Trump tell the truth....about anything?
Or, does anyone remember when did Trump say something he knew anything about?
4
@Nelson The answer to both questions is the same: "I would take her to bed if she weren't my daughter."
6
This is an example of the "deep state" attempting to take down our chief of state, delegitimize the presidency that 63 million of us voted for. Given the politicization of our intel. agencies,why should we automatically assume they know what they are talking about, and are assessing situations in North Korea,Iran with an objective eye? Was George Tenet accurate and truthful when he advised Bush "fils" that the war in Iraq would be a slam dunk? Was Sec. of State Powell not misleading the American people when he went before the UN to create false impression that Iraq had w,dm.d.'s and that Sadaam Hussein was harboring terrorists? Were intel. officials being honest with the American people when they lent credence to the Warren Report which turned out to be a cover up of the conspiracy to kill the president, a complot in which the CIA . FBI and even the vice president were allegedly involved?1 important fact uncovered by events of the past 2 years, since Trump became president is the corruption of our institutions, of their anti Trump biases, of their involvement in the "deep state!" My latest videotaped essay on the deceit of a former friend and ex CIA spook, available on Youtube. should be seen by anyone who takes these folks seriously, including Messieurs Wray and Coates as well as Ms. Haspel.Take my hunches for what 1 thinks they r worth!
Your “hunches” are simply that: hunches.
1
@Cathy Moore Yes, we already read that. Did you have some "reply" you wanted to offer?
1
Actually, they're more like *conspiracy* theories. This is scary stuff.
1
Trump undermines the country, the free world and the planet daily. Trump and Pence supported with the blind allegiance of the GOP are ignoring national security. It’s frightening. The national security threat was clear - ISIS is not defeated at all and has strong numbers and intent upon their mission, the election threat from China and Russia to destabilize s create dissent and to cause chaos in 2029 elections. The denial of China, Russia, North Korea other cyber terror (North Korea hit some huge amount of money a few years ago hacking banks or some such) endless breach of product design and manufacturing theft, nuclear threats, threats to other nations. The reckless disruption with the shutdown undermining work at the FBI in a terrible real measurable way.
If any enemy did what he does to us we’d take military action! Americans are not village idiots but we are being “played” by enemies on Trumps lack of a “watch” to an unseen unbridled dangerous extent because of his ignorance and resentments. He built this nightmare from illegal immigration ignored prior and we have the negative effects of that every day.
3
DJT is a living proof that our electoral college system can put a clueless, unintelligent leader to the highest position in the world. Shame on us for tolerating this flawed system.
9
So
Tomorrow Donald is going to fire these chiefs.....
Tell me this is not a possibility...….
1
Who cares what our national intelligence professionals think or say? Let's wait to see what Coulter, Hannity, and Fox News tell us what to do.....
5
I just can’t believe nothing can be done to stop Trump in unraveling our nation’s security and the cornerstone of our geo-political stance and global leadership.
That every leader of our security infrastructure raised red flags completely negating all of Trump’s claims while indicating a threat so insignificant at our souther border not to even be mentioned: this is a clear sign that Trump is not defending the USA, nor is upholding his vow to support the constitution.
By clearly abandoning his vows and engaging in this behavior, this indicates Trump is no president of this great country any longer, if he ever was.
13
Trump is only concerned about himself.
Trump will win again in 2020 if the Democrats do not do anything that offers something to the Americans that voted for Trump in 2016.
1
Trump has never been a 'real president'. We (the majority of the country) have been anxiously waiting to reach a tipping point for two years now. Exactly what is it going to take for the GOP to come to its senses and put the brakes on this dangerous man?
Something has to give. We can only pray that the Mad King doesn't start WWIII before he is removed from office.
I have a son in the Navy and I have never been so afraid for him.
Our greatest threat is the US Military-Industry-Complex and a foreign policy mindset which remains unchanged across administrations. We have no framework for accommodating rising powers and begin with the basic premise that overwhelming US economic, technological and military superiority will be, and must be maintained at any cost.
We flippantly engage in "regime change" and engineer coups in any country which dares to squint at us the wrong way. We're taking on Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, religious extremists and feel we have enough gas in the tank to toss out Maduro in Venezuela. We whistle democracy and human rights but ally with the brutal and tyrannical Saudi regime. We don't even feel we have to justify why. Because we can. Overwhelming superiority.
The loss of overwhelming superiority in any field gives us great anxiety. Our response to being unable to compete with 5G technology isn't invest more in R&D, it's to get the NSA to raid Huawei offices for evidence of links to the Chinese government. When that fails, we get the Canadians to arrest their CFO.
And now that we're getting bored with Afghanistan, we're pulling out. Mark my words, the country will revert to it's pre-US invasion status and our mission to bomb them into modern democracy fails.
So we're fixated with what our enemies could do to us when the real question should be why do we need so many enemies to begin with?
3
With this administration and Trump the closest were going to come to a legitimately run government is watching reruns of the West Wing on Netflix. I don't know what it is, but I feel better after watching a few episodes.
11
The real problem is the Democrats that will allow Trump to win in 2020. Democrats forget that Trump won even when Clinton had more than 3 million votes then Trump.
This will be the same for Trump in 2020 since Democrats are not doing anything to win over the Americans that voted for Trump. Current Democrats have nothing to offer the Americans that voted for Trump and in many cases Democrats are acting in a way that will make even more Americans vote for Trump.
At some point Democrats will need to stop making it easy for Americans to vote for Trump.
Democrats need to stop acting with stupid ideas that mean nothing to the Trump supporters and also many other Americans.
Instead Democrats needs to start acting to give Americans a reason to vote for a Democrat for president instead of voting for Trump.
2
@Bobs
You say Democrats are not winning over Trump supporters. How, exactly would they do that? They’ve proved completely immune to reason so far. About the only thing they seem to care about is stupid policies like the wall, and the Democrats aren’t going to embrace that. If they have to become Trump to defeat Trump there’s no point in running.
Fortunately, things aren’t as bleak as you paint. Trump won the electoral college by a fairly thin margin, and his approval rating has only gone down from there. It’s unlikely that he’ll be able to steal an election twice.
4
@Bob S It is not worth the effort to try to convince the vast majority of those who voted for Trump to vote Democratic. Their minds will never be changed by rational analysis and thought. Fortunately they represent a small minority of the eligible voters and the best chance for change is to convince those who didn't vote in the last election to perform their civic duty and throw out the Republicans who are doing their best to destroy our democracy.
4
China wants the United States troops out of the Korean Peninsula. Expect North Korea to demand as much in return for any denuclearization. South Korean would then be on its own against an invasion by North Korea reinforced by China.
3
Trump typically bases his foreign policy on what he hears on Fox and Friends. According to Rachel Maddow (1/28/2019) he is basing a substantial portion of his Southern Border policy on the movie Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Very stable genius who clearly knows more than all the Generals.
11
Contradict Trump??? That's a surprise. It probably has something to do with the fact that Trump doesn't, has never and will never do his homework. He's one of those few members of the species that can get through life as the addle school child whose dog always eats his homework.
7
No rationale given for a wall from these leaders, or any of the other false security threats Trump uses to rile up his base. And this is even more striking given that, according to today's Washington Post, apparatchiks in his administration have gone to great lengths attempting to create data to bolster his fabrications regarding Iran, voting, immigration, crime, guns and the southern border. We should also be highly skeptical of opinions of those who have careers staked on security issues, like border patrol and ICE agents, as well as neocon shills for the defense industry.
8
A president who disagrees with the assessments of his/her intelligence professionals based on nothing more than his/her gut feelings should be removed from office. Had Obama disagreed as often and as vehemently as Trump does, the Republicans would have impeached him. The Republican hypocrisy is unbelievable
21
Was everyone in the hearing room white or was it my tv?
6
Wait ! Are you telling us that North Korea is refusing to takes its orders from our White House?
5
"I know nuclear policy, North Korea and Iran better than anybody. I also know science, election's, military and and and just about everything more than anyone else". Did i mention tax law?, or the environment?
Since i alone created these crises, i alone can solve them and look like a tough guy hero to the ignorant. Problem: We're not ignorant and you are. Watch Fox News for more live non updates.
8
Uh-Oh its the "Deep State" again, trying to undermine the Presidency with its evil facts
11
The CIA hasn’t heard the end of “there’s weapons of mass destruction in Iraq”, and they shouldn’t.
1
Bush lied us into Iraq.
3
@Max
It was not exactly CIA that one, in fact that is paralel structure run by Dick Cheney using some wannabe CIA people.
If CIA didn't comply , Cheney most likely would descend on them with Waterboarding. He thinks it is fun.
1
Can we trust the deep-swamp? It gave us Mueller and ignored China in favor of Putin since before Obama walked into the White House. Who knows what lurks behind the "holy" wall at Langley? Certainly not the citizens or the Congress. Nice show, though.
2
Oh c'mon. Who are you going to believe?
Your lying eyes and ears, or the Man Who Has Singlehandedly Made America Great Again?
4
Trump will fire her in one...two...three...
2
The Ugly American, aged 73, in 3D and living technicolor.
8
I seem to remember that the great impostor in the White House admitted that he is really really smart!!! Really Smart!!!
Is it possible that he is smarter than our National Intelligence Experts???
NO. I really really doubt it.
4
So it's confirmed: Tweedly Dee in the State Department agrees with Tweedly Dum in the White House, and it looks like they don't know Diddly about whats going on in the world. Laugh or cry, its still a scary mess.
2
It amazes me that our intelligence community actually appears intelligent and objective in comparison with our current presidential administration. How far we have fallen!
1
This is not news: Intelligence contradicts Trump.
I think we are learning that democracy is not a meritocracy.
17
A new American intelligence assessment of global threats has concluded that North Korea is “unlikely to give up” all of its nuclear stockpiles,
Thankfully Trump is going to be meeting with Kim and not Dan Coats. Talk about a wet blanket at a party.
1
So, the intelligence assessment is that DJT has failed on all fronts in his "signature" security initiatives. That sums it up.
19
This is what 45% of the voters wanted. Chaos, lies and bullying.
16
@daveandnancy3
Come on now, it was 46.1% of the voters.’-(
1
"It specifically noted the Russian planting of malware in the United States electricity grid."
Did anyone besides me think the unusual power outage April 21, 2017, in SF, NYC, and LA seemed...more than a coincidence? I was in SF at the time, and the city chugged along as best as it could, people were calm..When I'd heard power was also out in Manhattan, and LA, I wondered if it had been planned to see how people would react.
10
"Mr. Trump is expected to meet next month with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, in a second round of negotiations aimed at ridding the country of its nuclear weapons."
Not many think it's North Korea's aim to give up it's nuclear weapons in these negotiations.
4
Skeptical?
I should hope so! All Trump is angling for is more media coverage and a shout out to his base that he is engaging in the foreign relations thing.
Absolutely no progress will be made and Kim will play him like a cheap violin, just like last time...
10
@Stan This trump thing is really starting to rub me the wrong way.
In the medical world, the biggest danger to patient well-being is that small, but significant subset of doctors flushed with hubris from the first day of medical school. They descend upon lectures and tutorials with a supercilious air, displaying in full view their narcissistic traits and even personality disorders that only became obvious in hindsight for the rest of us.
These are the doctors who will confidently state, "It's not appendicitis" to the distraught parents in the ER, "It can't be meningococcal since she's had the vaccine" to others.
It is the duty of all doctors to identify, and attempt to remedy or expel these doctors, and it sure ain't pretty. However, we exist for the welfare of the patients, not for the ego-stoking of the narcissists in our midst.
Your Commander-in-Chief displays the very same hubris, but his misplaced confidence won't "merely" result in a mis-diagnosed surgical emergency of a few kids, but the mis-diagnosed existential emergency for an entire nation.
Clearly, the other practitioners of the US government need to respond to the danger - they exist for the welfare of the American citizens, not for the ego-stoking of the narcissist in their midst. I don't know what the solution would look like, and it won't be pretty, but the USA surely needs it stat.
10
Well, there it is, more evidence that mr. Trump was wrong that building a wall will solve everything. The billions needed would be better spent on beefing up America's cyber defense grid against these known adversaries, Mexico is not one of them.
11
This is a massive deal: in virtually every important aspect of Trump's so-called foreign policy, he has predicated EVERYTHING on lies and distortions.
HIs policy towards Russia, which seems to give Putin the keys to the kingdom, is based on his explicit statements that Russia is our friend. Russia, of course, has never been our friend. But Trump's assertions, of course, beg the question as to what Putin has on Trump that Trump will betray his oath of office, commit treason and declare our national friendship with Russia.
More than that, the clear warning that we are falling behind in cybersecurity is a direct demonstration of Trump's malpractice, or -- since it's undoubtedly intentional -- treason.
15
Another reason not to watch the State of the Union performance next week.
14
And yet, his base still stands by him.
I wonder if any of them have a family member serving over there?
6
Most likely and their friends and families will still view trump as strong, authentic and decisive even though over the last 2 years, he’s demonstrated that he has all the presidential acumen of a doorknob.
9
A elementary school student has a better grasp of facts than the president.
12
Ironically Trump continues to claim that he wants to keep Americans safe, yet ignores the largest, most high tech, best funded intel agencies in the world...
While I am not a legal scholar, his antics and actions are borderline treasonous and probably would fit within the definition of high crimes.
14
Everyday the damage trump is doing to so many of the democratic institutions that keep the country secure goes unabated. Ignoring the real threats from Russia and China while contending the real security issue is at our southern border and a physical wall the only viable solution demonstrates his unwillingness to accept facts and a true detachment from reality.
The Murdoch media formula created and nurtured this monster. The real crisis in immigration is not with those hapless refugees seeking asylum at the border but those who arrive in private jets, become naturalized citizens and have exceptions made that eventually corrupt our much prized American way of life. This is a far better reason for overhauling the immigration system and securing the democracy that made the nation great.
9
Is this all a great contrivance characterized by Michel Chrichton as "Maintaining a State of Fear"?
The US has by multiples the largest miltary machine in the world.... Russia is a military joke of grandstanding. If it chose to the US could take out any of the threats in minutes... why do we beleive all these ideas unless it is all a drama for economies to continue?
North Korea is a threat that we allow for political reasons only
3
The only thing that not building the ‘wall’ is a critical security threat to is Trump’s re-election chances. Just as the American intelligence community sold Bush & Blair on Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction so Trump has sold his popular minority on the security threat that his proposed wall addresses.
5
Whom to believe? Both Trump and intelligence chiefs habitually lie to the American public. If our laws were enforced Clapper would be in jail for perjury.
1
Personally, I’ll take the intelligence chiefs over Trump any time. At least they read, and are able to separate what they see in fictional movies from reality.
4
Trump has failed on the homefront. Now the man who says the US is not the world's police force is trying to force his views based on incorrect facts to other countries. In Australia he will always have the after dark boys on Sky News (the afternoon and evening chat show hosts) to endorse and support every word he utters like their compadres at Fox News but for the most the rest of Australia has stopped listening and now he is just basically comedian bait.
5
No matter your political leanings or economic status you expect the President of the United States to perform one basic duty, to keep us safe at night. I rest my case.
4
Hopefully Fox News features this information with simple words so Trumps base will understand.
6
Nothing on Fox News about this all day or evening.
2
Thanks to the non-partisan dedicated sentries in the government! It shines a very bright light on the gullibility present in other wings where elected public servants have been misled. Foreign relationships require a steady hand, and these folks are the ones to thank.
2
This easily shows that trump deals in lies and hyperbole, about everything. He is incapable of composed thought or ponder on any subject.
Our National Security Agencies again discredit his "version" (his guess) of the threats we face.
Here, for his base to understand, is The State Of trump's Union:
trump is that rotund humpty-dumpty...
who for 5 weeks terrorized us all...
who's in for a shattering downfall...
falling off his big blood-red wall.
He shuttered our 800 thousand workers,
forced them to suffer debts and dues,
paid them temporarily, his fans went agog,
now he waits to terrorize us again, anew.
His trade sanctions are hurting Americans,
his tax rebates help billionaires reap,
and the common man waits waits waits,
for a sane president who isn't a creep.
5
Thank you, Times, for informing us of the Intelligence Chiefs' global prognosis. It would seem to me that without our experts, Dan Coats et al, and competent, honest investigative journalism, we Americans under the devious leadership of Trump would most certainly be subject to threats not only to national security but also to the essence of a democracy.
We have gone through two horrible years of lies and deceit, recently capped by an unnecessary and harmful shut-down. We have listened to the lying rant of an unfit man that our greatest threat is south of our border. He cruelly disregards the desperate and innocent while defending the ruthless, Kim and Putin. I hope that this Republican Senate regains a conscience, if ever it had one, by distancing itself from Mr. Trump. Thinking Americans must make our Congress be aware that all we have is them to defend our rights from within and from without our nation. Now, not next year, not next month, not next week, is the time to take action and protect our country from our foreign adversaries and Donald Trump.
10
Since this is a time or is it all the time to dump on this POTUS - these leading questions from lawyers who happen to be senators and witnesses - these answers are hardly surprising.
But let's look at their track record - of these agencies, I mean.
These are the same folks - I mean agencies they represent - who talked not just the 43rd but the Congress and a large portion of UN - in believing Saddam had WMD.
Based on their assessment - this nation invaded a country at a great cost in loss of American lives - not to mention precious Treasury.
Or for that matter - where were these folks with Al Quadea ascendant - failed to see 9/11 coming. And it appears that while they knew some portion - they failed to share critical information with others, to protect their turfs - as documented by 9/11 commission.
And it is these same agencies with rendition, intensive interrogation - or torture - shamed America and had us lose our moral standing.
Or for that matter - they were asleep at wheel when Russians were penetrating DNC computers and DNC was throwing around a bogus dossier.
One can even ask going back to Iran's sizure of our embassy and 444 days of captivity - where the heck were these folks who never saw it coming.
So, I wish a senator had quoted some of this history and asked with all these significant and recent failures - why should a POTUS not pursue a different strategy - if it might yield some result.
2
Looks like it's time to get rid of these agencies, save a bunch of money and let Jared use it to....well to do whatever he thinks will help his friends and family the most.
1
When I read that Trump has said the Iran deal was “defective at its core”, I have questions. How does he know that? You know, 1. He never reads anything and 2. He doesn’t understand a treaty like that anyway.
10
Don't be silly. Trump doesn't have to read or understand stuff. Vlad and Sean and Rush will tell him what to do.
The all the national intelligence organizations have disagreed with the President on Iran, Syria, ISIS, North Korea. At what point do the Republican in both Houses of a Congress begin to recognize the danger this President puts the country in. When does his behavior start to resemble high crimes and misdemeanors?
7
The key word here is "intelligence". They have it, and Trump isn't!
6
I’m pretty sure Trump supporters will say this is Fake News and that the Intelligence Chiefs are not more intelligent than the President.
4
This is just another game of his real or unreal. He is a man who has never had any kind of interest in national affairs and now he is simply doing what he feels is best ...for himself. The rest he really could care less about. He is 72 years old and never had to care a single day in his life about anything. Imagine having 2 million dollars in a bank account with your name on it given to you on your 2end birthday. Imagine... and that was just the beginning.
3
"A new American intelligence report directly contradicts two top tenets of Trumps foreign policy."
What? Blow me over with a feather.
Like so many around the world, I have been following the political drama - or should I say comedy? - Trump and his people have been performing since 2016. If these two years have taught me anything at all, it is that Trumps view reflects the truth only when it benefits Himself. At all other times, you can expect him to lie. Like watching a poor actor who repeats himself, we have stopped believing him long time ago, only longing for the horrible play to end.
"A great meeting!" We all knew that Kim had no intention of stopping his nuclear program, because well, he is a dictator, he kills his political opponents and he lies through his teeth if he has to. He is young, but no fool.
ISIS defeated? The Islamic State is not a state, it is a state of mind. So we may have cut off their head, but another will grow out. They need to be defeated much more fundamentally than by military force alone. But to be brutally frank, I doubt that Trump really understands this, nor do I think he is interested.
Now all the rubbish rethoric from the president is exposed by an intelligence report. I am hardly surprised. This is what to expect from a fulll blown narcissist who always knows best and has access to the Truth.
His reaction to this latest report takes no rocket scientist to guess. His reaction to a devastating Mueller Report is another matter.
9
I wrote about this is a SCIFI story in 2006. I revised it in 2016 or there about. The National Academy of Science wrote about this in an open and classified version in 2006. Aviation Week wrote about this in 2005. This is not new.
The Intel community gets it.
When the 51st star is a RED one and in the center of the flag, you'll all get it.
2
Thank you Mr. Coats and Ms. Kaspel. Unfortunately Trump/ McConnell/the Republican Party are The Fifth Column.
What to do . . . .
7
The entire national intelligence organizations have disagreed with the President on Iran, Syria, ISIS, North Korea. At what point do the Republican in both Houses of a Congress begin to recognize the danger this President puts the country in. When does his behavior start to resemble high crimes and misdemeanors?
5
Yes, but who needs to listen to intelligence officers when you know how to run hotels and golf courses or sell fancy coffee, right? Why even have intelligence briefings when the stock market loves you?
4
Folks, don't you see what the greatest to our national security is? It's named Donald J. Trump.
4
GOP, what is your next move? History will not speak kindly of any of you. Two years in office and how long will it take to repair our country? This president may be an inveterate speaker of untruths, but it is absolutely certain we need a statesman in office, not this incompetent, unfit person.
4
All this needs to addressed and all Trump does is fiddle about a wall
3
I believe it is unreasonable to demand and expect North Korea to disarm itself so soon after tensions have abruptly eased after almost 70 years of hot and cold hostilities. The United States China and North and South Korea first need to sign a peace treaty ending the Korean War. The parties can develop a time table that could extend to a decade or more for both the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and an American withdrawal militarily. Donald Trump acted on the long festering instability and danger the Korean issue presented that has been a notable success so far for all involved. Patience and diplomacy will carry the day in this political marathon.
1
I don't think the President should be allowed to keep his National Security clearances. What's to stop him from finding out what our intelligence agencies find out about Russia's steps to destabilize us and then telling the Russians so they can either better hide their efforts or stay one step ahead of us? That's not a risk we should take.
26
Manufacturing a nuclear device isn’t exactly rocket science but developing an intercontinental ballistic missile system capable of delivering it is. The “intelligence” communities affirmation of Irans “compliance” with the much ballyhooed nuclear deal it signed during the Obama administration does nothing more than delay the former it does nothing to suppress the latter. Ignoring the communities documented past failed prognostications that basic fact is likely a moot point given the increasing likelihood that nuclear weapons and delivery systems will inevitably become a fungible commodity. Both technologies exist in China and Russia. It would have been illuminating if someone in the senate “intelligence” committee asked the national intelligence community if Iran and North Korea were conspiring with China and Russia for access to those technologies. A generous explanation for them not asking the question is that only a fool would believe they aren’t. Unfortunately such generosity is not warranted.
A truly intelligent intelligence community would offer policies that counter the obvious threats the US faces. North Korea is a client state of China. It’s absurd to separate the two because North Korea will do whatever China directs. That makes president Trumps broader trade negotiations with China paramount. Forcing China to decide between economic development and supporting nuclear blackmail via North Korea or Iran is a policy that will determine what real threats we face.
5
@tim k
You are saying that Our National Intelligence people are incompetent but Trump's policies has merit in it.
himm very interesting.
This is the guy who tweeted yesterday to former Starbucks CEO, " I hope Starbucks paying rent in my Trump tower"
I believe that there might be some merit.. why not...
2
If only Stacey Abrams can forcefully address these realities in a compelling way. Pulling for her.
14
What a surprise, trumps foreign policy is based on lies.
51
@Steve Not fully. Most of his foreign policy is based on who likes him and who does not.
1
Real threats, dictators, and fantasies ........
Not worried, thinks things are fine.
Non-threat at the border ..... emergency.
Remember that the intelligence agencies are tasked with keeping America safe by providing the data, the information for out leaders to take action.
The current president is worried that Fox news might insult his base, that Putin will expose his compromised status, and whether he make money off the presidency.
Vote the enabling republicans out of the Senate.
Our democracy depends on holding these men and women who are complicit in endangering all Americans.
33
My concern with this so-called assessment is that it is a product of the administrative deep state and therefore should be considered cautiously. Thank you.
1
You do realize Coats was nominated by Trump, right?
4
please are trump appointees.
4
These officials were all appointed by and championed by Trump.
8
The very stable genius strikes again.
21
Why is it that with Trump in the WH, people are so ready to accept these govt intelligence reports that don’t agree with his assessments? Whereas, they will be the first to claim how wrong and misleading the reports - from the very same agencies - were so erroneous in regard to WMD’s in Iraq before 2003? What - have these agencies suddenly become so infallible because Trump is now President? And those weren’t even “evaluations”. They were reports of facts on the ground. These reports today are ANALYSES of the situations. My head is spinning from the turnaround in the love people have for the CIA et al!
5
Because Trump has made it clear that he gets his intelligence from Fox News, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones by the pattern of his tweets and his statements that mirror their statements. All of these entities have in common is their ability to make money off of conspiracy theories, not their true concern for our country and it’s citizens.
The current officials that testified before Congress have more credibility because they have no obvious conflict of interest in the same way that Fox, Coulter, Jones and Limbaugh have. They have also placed themselves in the line of fire in real life.
In fact, it would be easier to question the opinions/credibility of these government agencies if we did not have to spend time comparing them to the book-selling, cable advertising, internet swindling competitors such as Fox, Coulter, etc al.
19
@Michael Lindsay The Bush administration ignored the agencies and fixed the facts to match its goal of invading Iraq. Trump’s assessments??? I doubt he has the ability to assess anything but if he did, on what would he base it, if not these agencies?
7
"Russia emerges as a disruptive threat, China as a long-term one, and the failure of the United States to invest heavily enough in research and development for key technologies as perhaps the biggest concern, allowing new competitors to close the technological gap."
And Trump thinks Russia is his only ally--obviously fusing USA and Trump Inc.
Moreover--he thinks private moneyball solves all problems--ignoring China's "collective" ability to effectively buy it--corporation by corporation. Huawei is just the tip of the iceberg.
Obama's Pan Pacific--which he spitefully killed--was obviously an economic buffer--The allied East.
20
So... if the good people at fox "news" would broadcast some of these facts , maybe trump would get it ! Unless he really is being directed by Moscow ...almost unbelievable, but what other explanation is there ? Opportunity ? yes ...one on one meetings with Putin ... Motive ? yes ...blackmail...and money ..several hundred million in loans for unprofitable , overpriced golf clubs .Thank goodness the House investigative committee's are now in Democratic hands !
11
Donald met these people once during their swearing-in ceremonies. Then he never saw or spoke to them again...
5
Look, nobody knows more about ISIS than Trump, OK? Trump understands ISIS, and international terrorism in general, far better than just about everybody - that I can tell you. Of course the haters and losers in the Deep State are going to contradict Trump. Suffering as they are from the effects of severe Trump Derangement Syndrome, they all have an irrational, baseless hatred for the man no matter how great a job he does as president.
But for them to take issue with Trump on North Korea is even more galling, because no one knows more about nuclear than Trump. Trump has spoken repeatedly about nuclear, in terms of just the overall power of it and how tremendous the destruction is, and his uncle, Dr. John Trump, Ph.D., was an MIT professor. And Kim Jong Un should have been taken care of as far back as the Nixon administration, instead of each president just being too lazy and weak to deal with the problem and leaving it for Trump to solve.
14
Hoping this is satire. If so, A . If not, you’re even less a stable genius than the man. And there is no grade that falls that low.
1
@DSG lololol - great job! Thanks for putting a smile - of sorts - on my face today.
2
The video coverage appears to conveniently drop China from the focus. To me, the calculated drop seems to indicate that NYT feels the really serious threat is being harnessed by China with targets including NYT.
2
Well, let's just say that intelligence writ large contradicts Trump.
10
The recalcitrant, myopic Trump will trust his own warped intuition rather than the assessments of these intelligence professionals. And this is why the world feels so tenuous and unsafe now. GOP leaders need to step up, intervene, and impress upon Trump that while the truth hurts, not acknowledging it could be a lot more painful.
11
Trump gets his intel report from Putin. Vlad will clarify.
10
@Hb
Kim jong un .
most likely he will rebuke our intelligence services after next month meeting , at press conference, he will state , Kim told me that he is going to give up all Nuclear weapons. I believe him....
2
The biggest threat is Trump, his White House, and the Congressional GOP. They care only for their own re-election which means pandering to Trump’s base. If our country lasts this onslaught of know-nothings,
history will not look at them kindly. At this time they do even more immediate damage than the cyber intrusions.
13
I dread the shameful spectacle that is almost certain to follow of Senate Republicans' attempts to ignore, twist, obfuscate, and equivocate as to the the Intelligence Chiefs' bracing report of the threats the US does--and does not--face from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and ISIS.
And there are no level-headed adults in the White House anymore trying to minimize the damage the Toddler in Chief will wreak. These are indeed frightening times.
13
In Trump World independent facts have no place in the discussion. American intelligence could bring him rock solid proof of their conclusions and Trump would discard it, because it does not tie in with the narrative he wishes to create. When Trump was talking on the phone with the Mexican President, who said Mexico would not pay for the wall, Trump told him he could not say that because he had promised his voters they would. IE. get with my program and get in line with my narrative. Thank God our intelligence community so far has refused to be his parrot.
9
What does "national security" have in it for Trump? Nothing!
4
Whatever has happened to the Republicans who would lie awake at night worrying about threats to American security.? You now have a president who either doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, doesn’t care what’s going on or chooses to lie like a 12 year old schoolyard braggart to impress his friends.
We’re all in serious trouble if this man ever has to face a real geopolitical crisis.
6
Maybe 45’s love of Russia and his other policies that put us all in danger aren’t quite proven to be treasonous. But I’d love a clear explanation why he is not a traitor.
Patiently, or not so patiently, waiting for SP Mueller’s report - if we, or even Congress, are allowed to read it.
8
Iran is not a threat to the USA. Trump's treatment of Iran is driven by the desires of his wealthy pro-Israel supporters, not by the best interests of the USA. Likewise, the southern border is not our biggest vulnerability, but Trump is driven by the pinheads at Faux News to declare it a national emergency. Meanwhile, the real threats to the country go overlooked.
11
And exactly did facts ever stop a determined Republican, or Trump?
10
What kills me is that all these right wingers around the world want each other dead. They are all cut from the same cloth. The irony of it all.
4
No matter how hard Cadet Bone Spurs tries to destroy our country through a dysfunctional foreign policy and no matter how impotent the GOP political leadership is by going along with his many whims including a bricks and mortar wall, we have a heck of lot of good people willing to protect us from numerous foreign threats. His treasonous behavior is certifiably impeachable.
6
Why is a report about the most serious threats to the United States today made public? And, there is so much fear-mongering going on about threats from abroad when some of the most terrifying events such as mass shootings, mistreatment of refugees, and natural disasters are occurring right in our own country every week. How about reallocating the cost of a plane ride to chat with N Korea toward solving some problems at home?
3
And yet the Sec of State, and former director of the CIA, puts that silly grin on his face and carries out the president's foreign policies. He knows the intel and the question for him is WHY?
6
See: "Israel Claims Proof of Secret Iran Plans for Nuclear Weapons"
"A person familiar with the matter said the U.S. had seen the documents and considered them authentic. The documents were consistent with evidence that the American government had compiled, and showed that Tehran had concealed some of its weapons activities from international inspectors, according to the person, who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive information."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-30/iran-hid-secret-nuclear-weapons-program-israel-s-netanyahu-says
@Sam Freeman
I do not know what exactly Israel politicians ( Bibi's party is trying to achieve?) against in every turn slapping US.
Where this come from? How this will be good for Israel in long run.
We are not saying that Israel is lying but they are not contradicting with our finding , however they are selling this in a very different way which undermines US foreign policy.
1
The fact that this is barely even news is mind-boggling.
10
This is 'purely' a personal gain driven behavior. SIL has property interests supported by major Israel-leaning financiers. potUS has visions of major golden towers and showers. So he makes goody-goody with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [KSA: tyrants and terrorists]. KSA [and Israel] want to target a perceived balancing power in the neighborhood - so they 'make up' a case and try to squeeze them. KSA will die in a new Arab spring, sprung from inside the family. In the meantime the US has damaged at least, maybe destroyed, its world standing.
3
thank goodness at least we know the US intelligence community is never wrong
Reading about the Intelligence Chiefs' assessment of dangers facing the nation I realize they've necessarily chosen conceal the most immediate perils confronting us: we have an incompetent and reckless person at the helm of this nation, and a gang of fanatical supporters holding him up as the answer to their prayers.
The external enemies of this country will likely remain guarded in the pursuit of their hatreds. They will continue to overestimate our president’s ability to understand the issues and respond effectively. It’s the only rational thing they can do. Their fears are our most significant protection. We need to coast this way for the remainder of Mr Trump's time. If any crisis, no matter how small, shall disturb the peace, our response can only be frightening: “we have a crazy person in charge, and no one truly knows what he’ll do!”
4
Trump is doing all of this on purpose...he is simply following the directions of his boss Putin. No need to try to understand his apparently crazy actions, they are totally logical if you if shift your POV to that of Putin....Trump was assigned by Putin to create havoc and help destroy our country from the inside...plus who knows what secrets Trump and Ivanka & Jarrod Kushner have already given away to our enemies ....it makes total sense. Trump actually admires Putin, combine that w/ all of the financial high crimes and the picture makes sense.
7
Its not just Mexicans crossing the border, In one day over 400 people were caught entering the US. 133 were from other countries, including Chinese and middle eastern people. Why are people ok with that? A terrorist group could walk across with a suitcase nuke. Or a deadly pathogen. Lets secure the airports and leave the easiest way in wide open? Makes no sense. If you think they havent thought that your crazy.
@Richard Because those 400 people entered through ports of entry and overstayed their visas. They were not in caravans of raping MS13's. And of the few so called "terrorists" who crossed illegaly, were not bomb throwing ISIS members but those who were on "watch lists" because of some affiliation with a banned person (relative of a criminal, for example). Statistics (published) show the illegal crossers engage in less crime as a rule and the downward trend in illegal immigration has continued now for 10 years.
3
Donald Trump is an enemy to the United States of America.
15
These intelligence chiefs are bureaucrats with no sense of patriotism or purpose.
They should be ignored.
1
@Rolf
I have just did , thanks
Iran is our partner in peace!
3
Hard to believe this is the outcome the NRA had hoped for.
3
Trump is a stooge for Putin and is trying to cause any major disruption that will divert his base from the truth; that being he is a agent of Russia and a traitor.
5
Trump's foreign policy emanates from his gut instinct rather than facts based on geo-political studies or intelligence reports, which he probably doesn't bother to read. When he made the giddy pronouncement that he had fallen in love with North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong Un, the leaders of that country probably had a good laugh. Kim Jong Un's prestige is boosted every time he is seen with the U.S. president. Trump is being played by North Korea where they regard him as a useful idiot.
6
Impeach! Please Impeach! Crazy, Stupid, both? I dont care what his problem is. Trump has got to go. I'm no fan of Pence but he has got to be better than the crazy train ride Trump has taken us on. Give us the goods Mr. Muller! We need sweet relief!
4
I think we can expect to see Dan Coates and Gina Haspel demoted or fired momentarily by the Idiot-in-Chief and replaced with some sniveling no-name with absolutely no experience in this field who will agree with everything Trump says. That's the usual MO of this administration.
5
I just looked at Foxnews.com. Not a thing on this story. Zip. It's one thing to be a one-network shill for the GOP. It's another to ignore a critical security story because it doesn't fit the narrative or make your guy look good.
7
Trump is the biggest idiot of all of them because he should fire these so-called intelligence agency employees who publish reports that contradict him. Trump should read every report before it is published so there is no contradiction. If they are publishing reports behind his back, he should get a spine and say "You're Fired"
Where is that guy we loved on the TV Show "The Apprentice"
3
Maybe Trump is trying to get his family or corrupt friends to get paid off somehow with respect to North Korea and China. after all his daughter Ivanka got special treatment about copyrights in China as the trade negotiations continue. This Presidency is so idiotic and erratic that the Trump administration has no credibility left. Who in their right mind would trust North Korea after the past 65 years of lies, torture , and murder that they have been involved in. China is desperate to get rid of North Korea for a nuclear bomb exploded and the radiation crossed the Chinese border. Iran is tied to Russia, and Trump obeys Putin, so Congress better wake up.
4
Trump always disagrees with intelligence
8
As President Obama said and this is in spirt "the United States is not a golf course".
donald is so over his head.
2
Unbeliavable. Here, in Brazil, a former captain of the Brazilian Army, ousted more then 30 years before, was elected President last november, with the help of an Internet scheme, a kind
of look-alike of the Trumps collusion with russians and a lot of other strange people.
For everyone in Brazil with brains, was the worst scenario possible. But, here comes the Don and put the whole world at risk, thinking the world is his playground.
At least, the Intelligence Chiefs of the USA are putting the country and the world upon the madness of a narcisistic idiot and telling everybody the real truth. I hope the Congress grab the gauntlet and oust the conman from the White House.
Just one last remark. Can you imagine who is Jair Bolsonaro, the brazilian President, role model and idol? Yes, the father of Don Jr., Eric anda Ivanka...
4
Trump: “I need to run this by Vladie.”
4
Then I guess there is no point in Trump engaging with North Korea. Liberals shoundnt blame for having tried.
1
But what about that 400lb hacker? What about Hilary's emails?
4
The interchange on Iran was telling. “At the moment, technically they are in compliance, but we do see them debating among themselves because they haven’t seen the economic benefits they hoped for from the deal.”
Why might they not see those economic benefits? Because Trump withdrew and imposed sanctions. In other words, if Iran moves toward rearmament, it's because of Trump's decision to withdraw.
13
Trump despite his claims for having an enormous brain that knows more than any one who has ever lived or will live, Trump is exposed as international policy dunce who is the witting or unwitting tool of Putin leaving our national security interests at risk. The GOP has to walk Trump out of the White House with a general pardon for Trump if he does not do a 180 on his foreign policy which is unlikely for this aging narcissist. The beginning of the End of the Trump presidency started today and will escalate to a peak with Trump's resignation or announcement he will not run in 2020.
22
I don’t buy into conspiracy theories but at this point, I do believe he makes decisions at the recommendations of foreign leaders that he considers to be his friends. I can’t find any other plausible explanation.
23
Did anyone ask any of these people if they have told the President what they told the committee and whether he appeared to comprehend the facts?
13
I suspect that Kim might give up his nuclear capability only if America does the same, which will happen an hour or two after never.
Otherwise one must assume that he has learned the lesson of Gaddafi and Saddam - nuclear capability in his neighborhood is the same as life support.
17
John Kerry's comment last week is most apt. When asked what Trump should do with regard to some of the complex problems being discussed, Kerry paused a moment, and said "Resign." That about sums it up.
25
Page 18 out of 42 for threat from our southern border and this is all trump thinks about, talks about and closes our government for. To say he is delusional is about the best you can say about our president.
15
Should Americans believe the adolescents in the administration or the adults in the classroom?
Trump says North Korea is dismantling nukes.
Trump says no collusion with Russia.
But the head of the CIA and head of National Intelligence totally disagree.
Kudlow says 3% GDP growth for US economy.
CBO says 2%.
The problem, Houston, is that the adolescents in the administration are incompetent and eschew to Trump's modus operandi of "Tell them what you want them to know and they will believe you." Saying or doing anything less than what Trump wants is considered being "disloyal."
Personally, I prefer listening to the "adults in the classroom."
17
Duh! I hope that practically no-one is surprised anymore by these reports--still shocked, yes, but not surprised. Yes, it's Duh Donald again and again and again (please add about a million more). I also hope to live long enough to see that pathetic excuse for a human being get exactly what's coming to him so our national integrity may be restored, including the restoration of faith in justice and our defense.
10
Iran has been around for thousands of years, seen rise and falls of empires, including its own empire that lasted more than the history of USA altogether. They have survived before and they will survive the new round of illegal US sanctions.
9
The CIA should have explained it better to Trump, why the US needs to come down hard on Iran.
Iran is situated closer to Israel, a nuclear armed US ally. Thus it matters more, regardless of the fact it has zero nuclear weapons.
North Korea is far from Israel, thus it matters less even if it owns several nuclear weapons.
1
@PK Jharkhand
If we were really concerned with terrorism, we would work to stop the saudis. They fund and help ISIS and before that Al Quada.
Yet we never criticize the saudis for their belief in the most perverted form of Islam and the hundreds of millions of dollars they spend on teaching it.
4
It will be more than a bit interesting to see how Bolton and Pompeo weigh-in on the assessment offered by our paid experts. Trump's presidency is beyond worry - it's a sickening tragedy.
14
Iran was never a threat to us. Israel and the Saudis want to make Iran our enemy so we can fight Iran for them to the last American. We are being led by the nose by these countries and their powerful lobbies in Washington DC.
Israel keeps us bogged down in the middle east for their benefit while China surpasses us.
18
Simple reasoning will conclude that North Korea will not give up its nuclear and ballistic programs. Next month meeting with Kim Jung-un is about nothing. Nothing accomplished in foreign policy. Domestically, the tax breaks to the rich did not help. The wall thing did not do any good. At the end of his first term, he will have nothing to show for. He could have accomplished plenty if he had worked with the democrats. His whole presidency is turned into personal grudges, no leadership whatsoever. The nation will stay stranded in mud for two more years.
11
First, I'll preface by saying I really don't have much confidence in these guys given their track record. It's dismal. They have been basically wrong for decades resulting in getting us involved in numerous disastrous wars and overthrowing democratically elected governments. Probably their biggest blunder was failing to stop 9/11, then lying us into the Iraq War. Their secret war in Syria with Saudi jihadist extremists has led to the deaths of over 600,000 civilians, the migration of millions and the arming of ISIS. We are IN negotiations with North Korea. Why would they unilaterally disarm BEFORE getting an agreement after seeing what we did to Gaddafi in Libya. I'm sure they remember Hillary chortling "We came. We saw. He died." There is no military solution to the Korean problem unless you are willing to see millions die in an all out war on the Korean Peninsula. What's inconsistent in their assessment is that they seem to feel that the Iranian deal, negotiated over a long period of time, even while the Iranians were continuing to develop THEIR program, has stopped a nuclear arms program so negotiations do seem to work, yet only North Korea is an exception. Their inconsistency makes no sense.
It's too easy to make fun of Trump.
The real issue is what we do about North Korea's ability to launch nuclear weapons at the U.S., and the fact that Iran had a nuclear weapons program in the past that they can, and may very well, reactivate. That's not so easy.
1
@Jonathan Katz
What makes anyone think N. Korea or any other country will attack the US with nuclear weapons? Nuclear weapons are a deterrent in attacks by nuclear weapons.
N. Korea has maybe a couple dz bombs at best. The US has thousands. There would be no more N.Korea. And the koreans know it.
However, it does stop the US from attacking N. Korea as we have threaten to do so many times. Same with Iran and the constant threatening to attack them.
As others have mentioned, we don't attack nuclear powers. But we do attack non-nuclear countries.
Iran was thinking about building a bomb because of constant threats from the US and Israel to attack them. Cut out the threat of war that we don't seem to get enough of. When you keep threatening, sooner or later they will take you seriously. And then they have to do something.
1
Would someone please explain why Iran is considered to be a DIRECT THREAT to the United States??
7
@An Observer
Because they overthrew our installed dictator that was selling cheap oil to the US. The dictator that we put in place because the Iranians didn't want western oil companies making huge profits while the Iranians were kept poor. His was a wonderful regime with a secret police trained by the US in the ways of torture. And armed by the US.
So because they got rid of our wonderful dictator, they are a threat now because we don't like people who get rid of our dictators.
3
Unfortunately the Senate and trump's base are not sufficiently motivated to demand change. This gives the koreans, Iranians, Chinese and Russians time to improve their cyber and nuclear arsenals. Complacency might tragically lead to a trump reelection that would worsen the problem. It may be that only a disaster will shake the anesthetized Senate and American populace out of its irresponsible slumber.
4
And there was no collusion.
5
Trade wars are easy to win, the former Kenyan President tapped my phones, and Mexico will pay for the wall are among the many things Trump has gotten wrong. This assessment further amplifies his inability to grasp reality.
7
Thank goodness.
It seems the professionals are doing their jobs; too bad Mr. Trump couldn't learn from them.
7
Facts? Evidence? Intelligence? Assessment? Who needs those pesky little obstacles to the best foreign policy the world has ever seen?
7
All of these misinterpretations and the resulting Trump foreign policies end up benefiting Russia. That's not an accident.
6
Actually, the number one threat to the U.S. right now is climate change. Climate change threatens our food supply, water supply, and air quality (see California during and after fires), and depletes our financial resources (Hurrican Katrina cost us over $100 billion, and Irma and others have cost untold billions more). Meanwhile, our misguided president withdrew us from the climate change agreement and pressed for more coal use, the very opposite of what he should have done: pressed for more aggressive carbon reduction goals.
Yes, he did the opposite of what he should have by meeting with North Korea without getting any real and meaningful concessions, and withdrew us from the Iran deal instead of using that as an opening to press for improvements in other areas, like their sponsorship of terrorism. I am a layperson, but even I can see that much. The bumblehead in the White House is dooming us all, and his Senate colleagues are too cowardly to say "the emperor has no clothes." That is because they, in fact, only care about enriching themselves and their constituents at the expense of everyone else (thus, the attacks on real medical insurance for all and on protective (environmental, workplace, police, voting) regulations, for example). Republicans purport to care about this country, but they have sold it out. They are devoid of the patriotism they profess. We are their victims as they attack us with shutdowns, etc.
11
have we reached the tipping point for the 25th amendment yet?
8
Contradiction? To the surprise of no one . . .
4
Everyone should know by now that our mob-boss/president is uncomfortable with actual information that has anything to do with intelligence. He makes up his own information, thank you very much. He also makes sure that any real information he gets from his staff is labelled as such, so as to avoid any of that snotty "real" information.
7
The experts, Dan Coats and Gina Haspel, disagree with the President; but one needs to ask the following:
Have either of them experienced success in real estate?;
Have either of them declared several business bankruptcies?; and,
Have either of them ever had their own successful television show based on firing people?
I rest my case!
11
This is why the Huawei Executive crisis is so scandalous: Trump is punishing China for sanctions he reinstalled after Iran accepted to no longer build nuclear weapons for an entire decade, AND after all US allies and the US itself has certified that indeed, they are respecting their part of the agreement.
Withdrawing unilaterally from an international agreement only to fire up your own base with lies should be illegal.
But doing so and then hurting both our allies and China by punishing them for not respecting Trump's temper tantrum sanctions is as absurd as it is dangerous.
Elizabeth Warren was perfectly right when she said that we do not need free trade (= victory for the wealthiest), but FAIR trade.
How will we ever have fair trade with China or get them to trust us on this issue, if we can't even respect our own international agreements, and then start jailing Executives of companies that compete against ours on the international market, all while unilaterally hitting them with massive tariffs ... ?
There has never been a more fake presidency than the current one, and the problem is that even fake presidencies have lasting consequences - terrible consequences.
National security experts unanimously point out that a wall is not the best way to protect the southern border, so Trump tries to make the GOP base believe that it is. They point out that North Korea is as dangerous as ever, so he tries to make them believe that it isn't. Idem Iran.
Lies is all he has.
8
What was obvious is conformed. The president is totally unfit to act as Commander in Chief.
13
The track record of the past 3 years make it plain that you'll be very close to the truth if you go with the opposite of whatever poppycock happens to be pouring out of Trump's mouth at any given moment of the day.
6
"On North Korea and Iran, Intelligence Chiefs Contradict Trump"
No news there, we all knew that already.
5
But Trump knows more than the CIA and the other intelligence agencies. We know this to be true because he told us so.
8
Ofcourse Iran is not working on nuclear weapons today. That's because President Trump has his finger on the trigger. Any other policy rather than the President's policy would result in nuclear Iran.
@BR
We had a good treaty which the Iranians were following. They had full compliance.
The fact that trump's finger is on the trigger might scare the Iranians into actually building a bomb since trump threw away the treaty.
Being a bully might scare some people into doing what you want. But many people just fight back instead.
So what trump is doing is more likely to convince Iran they need a nuke so that the US won't attack them as we keep threatening to do.
2
My fifth grade next door neighbor knows more about world events than the president of the U.S.
4
How long would some CEO of a big corporation last who was wrong about just about everything--whether through a refusal to seek information, expertise, and wise advice; through just plain terrible judgment about people and decisions; through an inability to imagine the consequences of his behavior or decisions; or whose default mode was lying instead of telling the truth?
I am no spring chicken, and I cannot remember a time when the intelligence community had to publicly contradict a president over as many misstatements, disinformation, ignorance, distortions, and outright willful stupidity as has been the case for Mr. Trump.
The Trump Wall is a prime example and symbol of Trump's deranged, dictatorial, and chaotic presidency, and to me the disputed Wall is looking more like the Berlin Wall designed to wall citizens in than a means of securing our borders that makes our citizens feel more secure.
7
Here is a bit of intel (more of an open secret really) that the spooks and legislators won't discuss because it isn't politically correct. Our worst enemy lies within, in the White House.
7
Trump lives in Trumpville, NO connection to any reality but MORE MONEY. SAD and BAD!
5
Kim Jong Un is celebrating the art of the deal. He’s just a ruthless dictator of an impoverished third world country yet he is about to get another crack at the world stage pretending to be diplomatic with his American counterpart. Individual 1 is getting gamed again.
5
And Trump Country just shrugs.
7
Thank you, Intelligence community and the NYT, for a clear, straightforward list of serious, real threats to our country.
This is why we have:
1. a government built on checks and balances
2. Freedom of the press
So we know what’s real. Not that we ever thought the bull fed us by 45 was real or clear or informed or.......anything but destructive.
4
It seriously makes you wonder what the price to sell out your own country to our enemies would be to a guy who's spent his whole life cutting terrible business deals.
Maybe a couple high-rise deals?
He manufactures a problem at the Southern border with duct taping desperados and women and children, while every foe and malignancy from Russia to North Korea to Syria to Saudi Arabia to ISIS are doing what they can to rip us apart at the seams.
Calling this buffoon a mad man isn't good enough.
He needs to be shipped to Guantanamo with La Tortuga and every enabler that's put him in the most powerful position (or what used to be) on earth before there's nothing left of America.
It's beyond pathetic.
4
Donald Trump's "leadership style" consists of:
1. wishful thinking
2. rambling, incoherent statements, delivered primarily:
a. via Twittter
b. at rallies
3. "walking back", aka "reversing direction"
4. watching TV
5. appointing people to lead organizations whose mission he, and they, despise
6. signing Big Documents, illegibly
7. fixating on concrete items that he can comprehend, such as "the wall"
3
"On Iran, Mr. Coats cited the nation’s continued support of terrorism in Europe and the Middle East, including sponsoring Houthis in Yemen and Shiite militants in Iraq. "
Translation:
Re 'terrorism in Europe', Mr. Coats has confused Shi'ite Iran with Sunni-Wahhabi Saudi Arabia.
Re the Middle East, Iran is sponsoring the Houthi freedom fighters against Saudi savagery, and Shi'ite militants in Iraq are defending the government, at the government's request, against Saudi-created ISIS.
Sigh ...........
2
North Korea is never giving up its nuclear weapons.
They didn’t do it for Presidents Clinton, Bush II, or Obama. They won’t do it for Trump. And they wouldn’t do it for a hypothetical President Harris/Warren/Booker/Biden/Schultz. And no U.S. president will ever authorize a military strike to take them out.
So we are left with the uncomfortable fact that North Korea is a nuclear power.
Our goal is twofold.
1. Prevent the development and testing of ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S.
2. Prevent the proliferation of North Korean nuclear and missile technology.
These two goals can only be achieved through diplomacy at this point.
Iran has paused their nuclear weapons work, while pushing to catch up on its ballistic missile technology. Once their missile technology catches up, they will push for a final nuclear breakout. I think there are several countries determined not to let them do this and become a new North Korea.
6
This story is worth emailing to yourself so that if in a few years, Iran develops a nuclear bomb, you can ask why the experts were wrong.
2
Robert Williams, this article says that currently Iran is not developing nukes. They did not say they won't. You must have been a big proponent of the 2nd Iraq wzr.
9
@Robert Williams Those same "experts" were sure beyond all doubt, a "slam dunk", that Iraq had nuclear and/or chemical weapons. Works both ways, pal.
6
If Iran develops a bomb, it will be because Trump walked away from the treaty that prevented it.
9
Here's what we know.
1. Trump does not read intelligence reports.
2. Trump does not listen well during face to face talks. He has attention span problems. He walks out of meetings to go into another room and watch TV by himself.
3. He gets his facts from Fox News. (This is a serious concern on my part because I know they lie about some things.)
4. He makes up his own facts.
5. He uses US foreign affair negotiations to talk about things that make money for his businesses and his family's businesses.
I have concerns that Trump's decisions about Syria, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and North Korea are not in the best interest of the citizens of the US.
What is the point of having intelligence experts and spies in this dangerous world if our president ignores them and does not have their back. (No, we cannot let them go. We need them more than we need the president.)
42
The greatest threat to the survival if this nation does not come from Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran, but from the man who could not tell the truth if his life depended on it and who just shut down our government for 35 days (and is threatening to do so again in two weeks).
Our country smolders on the cusp of a great conflagration and nobody has a planned response to this clear and present danger of a president. What is wrong with us?
60
The most dangerous man in America? Or.....
1
I hope verified threats to the U.S. and possible remedies outlined in this report are included in substantive debates among those seeking to run for President in 2020. It will only happen if voters recognize their significance and reporters and moderators keep these issues at the forefront during public debates.
12
US National Security Team
"The major threats to USA security are Russia, ISIS, China, and North Korea"
Donald J Trump ("I think with my gut")
"The major threat to USA security are infants, children, and their parents seeking aslyum at the southern border."
20
Our intellegence aparatus should be seeking the location of Jimmy Hoffa and then once determined send trump there...
4
Our geopolitical adversaries have a buffoon puppet for theirs.
15
First:
The overt and passionate love between Dear Leader Trump and Kim Jong Un offers the only protection the Fatherland requires from North Korea nuclear weapons and delivery systems.
Second:
Every day that these 'intelligence experts" ignore the clear and present danger that the diseased criminal horde poses to the Motherland from the south is obvious treason.
Third:
A beautiful and powerful wall, transparent with solar panels, offer the most immediate remedy to the Brown Caravan of the Apocalypse that threats the Homeland.
The Great Helmsman knows best.
(Think Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Airlines, or the New Jersey Generals)
6
b-b-but the Border!
6
@LH
To all members of Congress and the Senate: the 5.8 billion dollars requested for The Wall instead should be earmarked for research and development to close the technological gap that currently exists between the U.S. and adversaries Russian and China.
6
Someone should tell Trump and Bolton that when CIA torture lady thinks you're too bellicose, you really are.
23
Please.
Who are these Deep State stooges?
His Imperial Highness:
Knows more than the Generals.
Knows more about technology than anyone else.
Know campaign spending laws better than anyone else.
Knows more about tax law than anyone else.
When it comes to intelligence,
the is no equal.
Ozymandias Rules!!
PS: These stooges never ONCE mentioned the Brown Caravan of the Apocalypse or the clear threat along our southern border.
Traitors!
12
Re the headline of your article:
Gee, what a surprise..
4
Succinctly, the person in the WH is completely incompetent and his administration are lemmings headed for the cliff.
11
This is what makes your President a dangerous man. He riles Iran despite them seemingly doing the right thing and gives North Korea a ticket to do what they want. There was no evidence that Iran was beaching the conditions of the deal. North Korea never said they were intending to de-nuclearise. Everyone saw the agreement Trump waved around in another moment of self-aggrandisement. It never said the things Trump claimed.
Trump is your responsibility. Play along with his yes-men and pretend he is doing his job or get rid of him. It is up to you. However, you have an obligation not to let this self-serving, foolish man harm the rest of the world. Your President is a man who, as my grandmother would have said, is too stupid to get out of his own way. He is ruining your country. Don’t let him ruin the rest of the world.
22
We k ow, we know. We're working on it as fast as we can. Please remember he did not win the popular vote. Most of us are intelligent, thinking people but we do have a problem with our outdated, unnecessary electoral college.
3
You couldn't ask for a better foreign agent than Trump. Ignorant of the facts and pliable.
9
Historically, a naive thread is always manifest to some degree at some level of American foreign policy.
Sometimes an undercurrent, sometimes the dominant ideology, it's the belief that other nations are not capable of self-government and that they will give up national autonomy if the United States demands them to do so.
Unquestionably, this American attitude is rooted in a belief of racial and religious superiority and buttressed by the firm conviction that money and might make right, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.
Whether as foreign policy experts or casual observers, common sense and centuries of history tell that of course North Korea will not give up nuclear capabilities. Of course Iran will not bow to the demands of a country that has already proven itself a meddling, unreliable intruder in the national narrative.
The Executive Branch of this administration epitomizes a pigheaded approach to foreign policy, a belief in global manifest destiny. For someone so cluelessly ignorant about history, Trump sure has a strong grasp of outgrown positions of the nineteenth century.
5
So many real threats and the guy in the White House wants to only talk about an imaginary one on the southern border. Does he think we’re all stupid? Why isn’t his base concerned about this?
8
Who do you believe, Donald Trump or the Intelligence chiefs...…..easy answer....the Intelligence Chiefs.
9
Trump took an Oath "to preserve, protect, and defend ...". If in violation of said Oath, are there grounds for his removal?
9
Wishful thinking is the best description of Trump's foreign policy. This is a man who refuses to read daily briefings, who cannot stand long-winded discussions with his advisors, and who requires simplified drawings to enable him to have even the dimmest understanding of complex world events. We might as well have Tinkerbell and her magic dust guiding us in the art of flying as to trust anything the current Commander in Chief has to say about foreign affairs.
5
There we have in a nutshell. Our stable genius considers what happens at the border to Mexico is a national crisis. Perhaps other issues might be more important. O well . . .
3
These so called intelligence chiefs are not looking at the 'correct' data. They need to go to Foxlandia to find out what is really going on in North Korea and Iran. That is were the 'real' information can be had. That is where our President get his information. That is why he know more than these 'intelligence chiefs'.
7
I think someone should talk to North Korea about the localized environmental impacts of nuclear weapons. We tested almost 2000 nuclear missiles in Nevada. Where did everything that came out of those bombs end up? Also, we are still cleaning up one of the sites where one of the bombs that was dropped in Japan was developed. We are still dealing with that almost 75 years after the fact. And that facility is more close to than distant from the watershed feeding one of the more rapidly growing metropolitan areas here. No one would deliberately ingest radioactive material if they could help it. What happens when a facility is destroyed by air strike or, more likely, natural disaster? It becomes a part of your land for generations. I know the meaning of life is laying claim to power and not happiness, but there is no scenario where the development of nuclear weapons doesn’t come back to hurt the people. Leaders should be expected to act in their national interests. Maybe we should explain how having nuclear waste in our country is bad for our people and the environment. One country’s problem can spread. Etc. etc. or we could just call each other names on Twitter and our respective state-run medias.
1
It's not especially reassuring that the director of national intelligence doesn't know how to pronounce the word "nuclear." Another one of this president's "best people," obviously.
3
his important article could be improved with the addition of the following few words at the very end:
... all of which is being and will be ignored by the Trump Administration.
4
And the Republicans in Congress, those stalwarts of national defense spending and military strength, think what exactly about Trump's obliviousness to these real threats? Not a peep, or did I miss one? The Dems should be front and center on this. Haven't heard any peeps from them either.
4
From the title of this piece we can distill a new axiom of diplomacy- "Intelligence contradict(s) Trump."
3
Meanwhile Rome burns.
The Times would serve us so much better if they included a daily sidebar or page, titled MEANWHILE, that chronicles the short and long term damage this administration continues to inflict on our institutions and culture...on the very idea of America itself.
We can't hope to deal with the damage if we don't know what it is. Enough of the bright shiny objects. What's really going on is what's really the matter.
We will be dealing with that long after Trump is gone.
5
Hear hear, Joseph. That’s a great idea. We all need to know how we’re being affected on a day-to-day basis by the people we put in office. That’s also real news.
Yes, the Fourth Estate has a duty to report what our politicians are saying and doing (and, I suppose, tweeting), but rarely do we hear how our lives are slowly changing because of their actions.
If Trump's obvious disregard for his advisers isn't enough to call for impeachment, as his failure to "preserve, protect, and defend" then I don't know what is. What is Pelosi waiting for?
3
Trump is living in a fantasy of his own misguided beliefs.
Can we at least make it clear to the rest of the world that he does not speak for us?
Perhaps a resolution of the House of Representatives would suffice, since the Republicans in the Senate seem disinclined to speak at all.
3
aid that "what is striking about this detailed assessment is what it doesn't say."
"The report does not reinforce or support recent claims by the administration of a national security crisis at the southern border," Cohen said.
In fact, Coats did not reference the border or immigration at all in his opening remarks, which he told lawmakers were intended "to provide you an overview of the national security threats facing our nation." Coats was the only one to give opening remarks, as he was speaking on behalf of those seated beside him: CIA Director Gina Haspel, FBI Director Christopher Wray, National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Robert Ashley and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo.
2
None of this is surprising. Anyone who is surprised hasn't been paying attention to the world scene. What is disappointing is that we have apparently failed to anticipate these problems and take effective action to counter them before they became threats.
2
We got Iran to come to the table and have continued to demonize them ever since. No wonder they are dissatisfied with the deal we backed out of. What are they getting out of it?
On other countries mapping out infrastructure: there are satellite maps of the entire Earth publicly available via private company. No government(s) could prevent intelligence from being mined from publicly available data. Russia would just hurt random civilians who have essentially no power, by temporarily disabling the grid. If that’s what they want to stand for, that’s their prerogative.
2
Does anyone else agree that we need to stop feeding our tax dollars to billionaires and start upgrading this country's infrastructure from coast to coast?
Right now, the Republicans and the president are the biggest threats to national security. If you don't believe that, your children should be learning Russian and Chinese as their second languages. Forget Spanish, they've never ever been a threat, and they won't be unless they align with China or Russia.... and if they do, then we will have a real national emergency at the border.
#idiotsinthewhitehouse
3
When will Mitch McConnell and his colleagues finally help country over party? When will they force an end to this absolutely insane "foreign policy" of Trump.
4
Trump relies on Fox News for his intelligence briefings so it’s no surprise he’s remarks are inconsistent with his Intelligence Agenices.
3
The real question is why is Trump's intelligence report different from that of Dan Coates? Maybe someone should ask Trump where he got his information from? That would be simple and logical. Was that done? If not why not?
1
I don't know why so many Americans put so much faith in the vaunted "intelligence" community.
Isn't this the same CIA who told President Bush it was a "slam dunk" that Iraq had WMDs?
They have their own agenda and will "adjust" their reports to fit that agenda. Take their reports with as big a grain of salt as you would Trump's (well, maybe not quite...but almost).
2
@Unconventional Liberal
If the intelligence community’s information is bad, then where is Trump getting his information from, and what evidence there is that Trump’s information is more accurate?
2
The story needs some additional reporting. What questions did Republican members of the Senate Select Committee ask?
James Risch, Idaho
Marco Rubio, Florida
Susan Collins, Maine
Roy Blunt, Missouri
Tom Cotton, Arkansas
John Cornyn, Texas
Ben Sasse , Nebraska
Did they all sit on their hands and stare off in the middle distance?
2
We do not have a President. We have Donald Trump.
6
I think that if Trump continues with his obsession on the "Wall," and shuts down the government again in 3 weeks, he should be removed from office due to malfeasance. This can be done either through the 25th amendment or impeachment. Either way, he would demonstrate that he is a threat to the US.
This would bring about a Pence presidency, which, defacto, would have McConnell as the real power behind the throne. However, this would be infinitely preferable to a 72 year old narcissistic sociopath with the emotional quotient of a spoiled 4 year old.
2
This is an individual who has a pathological proclivity to lie if he feels it will make himself appear to be either more popular, very clever and smart, or rally his base. The short game is his bailwick.
The great photo op, the lie, and then the adulation he so craves.
Un played him for a fool and the only one who did not realize it was him. Saudi Arabia was well aware of whom they were entertaining when he journeyed there early in his reign. They had him rub the globe and awarded him some sort of medal.
He came away feeling like the "Second Coming".
I am sure he will also vilify this report and go on his merry way.
1
"On North Korea and Iran, Intelligence Chiefs Contradict Trump"...
And your question for me is??
1
Trump's incompetence is beyond commenting on any longer. My only question is why is he still president.
6
I guess its time to roll out more "alternative facts"...
1
Donald Trump lives in an alternate reality where there is no climate change, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in love with him and there are existential threats to our country from Iran and on our southern border. He controls an estimated 4,018 nuclear warheads.
2
That's what you get when you make a showmaster and failed businessman President of the United States.
5
compared with any other time, Korean Peninsula is the most peaceful ever. Ask any Korean living there. He's is the one who made it possible. In terms of North Korea, NYTimes is very conservative and wrong analysis.
1
@Sean
Compared with reality, this statement is complete nonsense.
Trump wildly wrong about everything? I am shocked. Shocked!
1
If there is anything positive to be taken from this meeting it is that there is a Democrat majority in the House that can take this file and use it to beat DJT over the head whenever he goes off on a tangent about his silly wall. Now, if only the senate would wake up.
2
So we are ignoring real threats to our national security while creating fake threats for reasons that are political, financial and racist. No wonder our enemies think they can roll us and our allies can't figure us out. This willful ignorance is hard to imagine if you care about America and hard to ignore if you wish us harm. Not all Republicans are bigots, deplorable or unpatriotic but they all do seem uncomfortable, intimidated or unfamiliar with intelligence.
3
Our president is our greatest national security threat. Not hyperbole. Fact.
4
Remember; no administration is perfect!
Now with that in mind, you can say what you want; but I believe we are better off today than a few years ago when Kim was flying rockets above buildings in Japan.
And as far as ISIS and Iran are concern; we have made more progress than previous administrations.
1
@Raul Tavarez
Most administrations seek the counsel and recommendations of experts in the fields of assessing physical and cyber security who remain independent and objective. This administration has failed to do so. I cannot remember this large a disconnect between a president's statements and reports from the agencies charged with protecting the country and its citizens.
2
@Raul Tavarez: Surely you jest! Try reading "The Fifth Risk" by Michael Lewis.
Come on, Dan Coats. Trump knows more than the generals. He knows more about everything than anyone on earth. Andhe's the best businessman ever. Why would you question him, let alone disagree with him?
31
In the Donald Trump Multiverse, we experience alternate realities. What if North Korea gave up nuclear weapons? What if Iran had them? What if Hulk was weak and flabby, and President?
14
The Republicans in Congress who are not compromised must act. Even if they're a small minority, I hope they at least care about the fates of their own families.
25
President Trump understands that you try to get a little better each day. North Korea is still at war with the US, President Trump has created the tracks for the cessation of hostilities. Several years ago the North Koreas kill 48 South Korean sailors. Iran is ruled by religious clerics that features strident Shia law. They are a mini caliphate seeking to extend their influence. The wall was a campaign promise Americans should just give the 5.7 billion to the promised project, and not let it become a 10 billion dollar argument.
2
I wish Trump is challenged internally from within the Republican party during his reelection. Many people who don't want to vote for him also don't want to vote for the Democratic party. A moderate republican with a global worldview and a clear stance against illegal immigration is needed. Neither Trump nor Democrats can provide that. We also need more parties to represent diverse opinions. Currently, many feel taken for granted by the existing two major parties. Without parties representing diverse opinions, we are under-represented.
7
They forgot to mention the biggest threat to our National Security — the Russian mole sitting behind the resolute desk. Whose interests are most served by Individual One’s ongoing campaign of lies and deceit? The very fact that the intelligence community is making news by stating the facts as they know them speaks volumes.
43
Russia wouldn't do any of that. Russia is our friend. Our BESTEST of best friends.
How, exactly, would Fox justify not telling its viewers that Trump's best bud is actually trying to damage our critical infrastructure? Is keeping those people in the dark about existential threats to America really less important to them than ensuring they don't question Trump's word?
10
Iran is in compliance with the nuclear agreement. The United States is in violation.
19
From what I have read, in the last year North Korea has stopped testing nuclear devices and delivery systems, and dismantled some facilities. Is that not good? Does or did anyone really expect them to completely give up the technology and destroy what they have? Why would they or any country do that?
4
Trump trusts his "gut," independent of facts. That's how you get 6+ major bankruptcies under your belt. So we should trust him with our country?
16
But if donald says it is true ,then it must be so. How can our intelligence community get it so wrong? Our new bff is Russia and to a lesser extent Turkey and China. Our biggest enemy is Mexico, South America and Canada. Build a wall to keep out the riff-raff. In the mean time cyber (disinformation) can continue to flourish. The next big earthquake will be the founding fathers collectively rolling over in their graves
6
The last time I looked, lying has a consequence: Diminished TRUST. Eventually ZERO trust. Trump has has lost all credibility with all but his most ardent fanatics. This loss of trust includes the majority of the citizens, the majority of Congress, the majority of his Cabinet, and the majority of WORLD leaders and world citizens.
Dear Mitch McConnell,
Why has a lying, and now distrusted, president become an even remotely acceptable reality? And why Mitch, do you continue to willingly support our Liar in Chief?
22
Just using the word "intelligence" in the same sentence as "Donald Trump" is a contradiction. That a cheesy television reality host and dodgy real estate dealer are not provide the requisitie credentials to lead on global foreign affairs, let alone comprehend their complexities, is the grossest of understatements. Any perceived intelligence or greatness in Donald Trump is counterfeit.
9
Looks like Trump has three more to fire so he can replace them with people who tell him what he wants to hear.
11
This is very dangerous, but unfortunately far too many in the Congress seem not to be as concerned as people such as I am about the leader of the free (getting less free with this horrid president) world making decisions based upon his impulses. Of course the leaders we should be most concerned about (North Korea, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and definitely Russia) love Trump because he is so twisted. Trump is a very deranged individual and should be under intensive psychiatric care in a psychiatric institution (or better yet, locked up in a federal prison).
6
Trump almost always makes statements about security issues that are beneficial to Putin's agenda. Hmm, wonder why...?
8
Perhaps part of Putin's plan was to install in office someone who would waste the country's time and resources on foolish defenses while neglecting or failing to see the real needs for defense. Perhaps Trump's wall is a modern-day version of the proverbial Maginot Line, a foolishly conceived defense that did nothing to protect France.
8
Appreciate that serious people are on watch.
4
After serving in the US Navy as an officer, I remember how the North Koreans treated the crew of the Pueblo. When the almost unarmed USS Pueblo, the crew was made to sign false confessions saying they were the aggressors and were forced to knell on broom sticks. Try this some time - U won't last a couple of minutes. The Pueblo crew had to endure hours of this torture.
How can anyone trust the leaders of a nation that in this age is starving their people to pay for their military.
China has a huge potential problem with NK. If the NK people go on a rampage and cross the border into China, this could be the catalyst for a huge revolution. China has hundreds of millions of people living on small farms, barely scratching out a living. I spent a month traveling through China after Mao's great leap forward had literally destroyed all of China's ancient buildings. When I was visiting the Terra Cotta warrior site, I was setting next to 3 Chinese Professors and asked if I could join them. I asked why didn't they uncover the hill near the TCW's and they said. "This is one of the most important relics from our past and we don't want it destroyed." Fifty years later, it has not been undovered.
4
This is a greatly unsettling report. Perhaps the greatest danger to our security, peace of mind, and well-being is the President of the United States.
16
Until Trump's BFF Vladimir checks in, what our intelligence agencies have to say is not worth listening to.
5
this is so far beyond trump he can't even see it ahead of him. he fixates on the wall because he can see that. but more abstract ideas just elude him totally.
7
1. Does Trump being suspected as a possible Russian agent give the FBI the authority to put him under electronic surveillance?
2. Isn't it likely that Putin recorded the secretive conversations he had with Trump in Helsinki and elsewhere?
3. Isn't it likely that foreign intelligence services will stop sharing highly sensitive intelligence with our intelligence agencies because they are concerned that Trump has been too compromised to be trusted with the information?
4. Will our intelligence agencies hide highly sensitive information from Trump because he seems so obviously under the control of the Russian government and Russian financiers?
Just wondering.
13
Can someone send this to Ross Douthat who thinks Trump's foreign policy is a grand game?
12
Fox and Friends have such a tall order spinning this one that if creating an alternate reality for their dear leader wasn't an essential service they'd all phone in sick.
7
Kim of N. Korea would have to be an idiot to dismantle his nuclear capability after what Clinton did, as secretary of state, (& Obama had to sign off on it) did to Khdaffi after he got rid of his nukes, Russia is our enemy, because after the Soviets lost the arms race, the US instead of making peace with a relatively defenseless Russia, the US doubled down on surrounding Russia, both politically & militarily. The US has created its enemies.
3
In front of the Nation, actual Intel experts . . you know, people who read stuff, contradict our dear leader.
Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away, Trump cultists tune into Pravda, and Fox seems to have missed or buried this item.
4
Well, Lord be praised. Finally what everyone already knew has been corroborated by real experts contradicting the White House crazy gang.
9
Just ask yourself “What Would Putin Do?” Then watch what Trump and his entourage do. Any questions?
4
Trump ignores this intelligence; listens to FOX NEWS. We are in terrific danger. Ray Sipe
6
No joke Republicans, get rid of Trump. He is dangerous for our country!
9
And Syria.
1
Donald Trump is absolutely correct. This country DOES face a national emergency. This national emergency can be solved immediately if this ignorant, dangerous,obnoxious, self absorbed hateful bigot were to remove himself from office immediately. This country will never be able to justify electing a degenerate such as this to the highest office of the land.
11
The decisions regarding our policies vis a vis Iran should be put in context with our allies Israel and Saudi Arabia . In this case we are doing Israel’s and Saudi Arabia’s bidding more so than our own.
6
An oxymoron from the military is "military intelligence". Intelligence got it completely wrong on Pearl Harbor, the Yom Kippur war, and Iraq's long demolished atom bomb project.
There are other intelligence agencies around the world that possibly have better connections in parts of the world the US might not have.
Iran's leaders are openly boasting that that it will nuke Israel. Iran also finances terrorists that threaten Israel. Unless Iran has a regime change or Israel nukes Iran, this threat isn't going away.
1
Isn't it long past the deadline for voiding Trump and his disastrous leadership for an effective president who thinks clearly, understands and examines policy positions with intelligence and, foremost, promotes the security of the country and the general welfare of all our citizens?
5
So, the president is ignoring his own experts on yet another important matter of national security. At what point do Congressional Republicans realize that Trump is undermining the country, the government, and the Constitution?
14
I know that in the real-world in which we live, this won't happen, but the subtext of what's described here is a fundamental failure on Donald Trump's part to protect this country from enemies. That alone should be an impeachable offense.
8
If Obama supported it, Trump dumped it. In spite of every one of our allies that signed on for the Iranian nuclear deal, Trump in is typical bluster said it was a "bad deal". He never listened to our generals or anyone for that matter. Gen Joseph Dunford Joint Chiefs Chairman said, " The deal has delayed nuclear capability by Iran." Rex Tillerson, "Iran is under technical compliance." To the question, "Do you think it's in our national interest to remain in the Iran deal?" James Mattis answered with a resounding, "YES." And this was well over a year ago. North Korea is just waiting for Trump to go away. In the meantime, the GOP head bobbers keep on defending Trump's nincompoopery!
6
Contradicting the President shouldn't be too difficult. As regards North Korea, what the CIA says could not be wrong. What DPRK wants is unification with the south, and a complete cessation of war games in the area which include the South Korean government. Iran wishes commitments to be honored, so that it does not have to deal with sanctions which are injurious to their people. Whether Trump's failure to honor them would spur them to develop nuclear weapons is a question; however they seem interested in a peace predicated upon three things; the elimination of war-like patrols near their territorial waters, the return of Palestinian territory to its rightful owners, and a peace in Syria which does not include U.S. puppets in charge of the government. What Russia does is to try to bolster its defenses against designs upon its and its allies' natural resources. This is seen by the intelligence community as undermining aspects of western society. Thinking back to 1954 Guatemala, what could one say of the United Fruit Company- CIA operation to oust the legitimate government of that country, which had begun the partial expropriation of latifundists and the distribution of land to its needy people? Only in 2011 did the Guatemalan government apologize to its people and characterize those events as a crime, as well as making Arbenz a national hero. Pretty shady business.
While Trump tweets and watches Fox TV our adversaries are quietly moving against us. Thank god for our Intelligence Community.
7
Dick Cheney didn't want to hear the truth about from our intelligence experts either.
Remember how well that worked out?
6
The question is not whether Trump has been lying, he clearly has, but why and who does it benefit? It appears to benefit Trumps "allies" in the Kremlin, not the American people. As such, the term "traitor" appears more and more apt a description for the man occupying the White House.
8
Well clearly, the Intelligence Community is wrong.
Maybe instead of providing Mr. Trump with a daily brief in print, Dan Coates, Gina Haspel, Chris Wray, et.al., would consider asking him what his gut is telling him, since that's how policies get implemented before they're defined.
4
It is clear that we have a moronic mob boss in the Oval Office who has surrounded himself with a motley crew of morally bankrupt lackeys. Moreover, there is no doubt that this is a perfect set up for any number of foreign adversaries to do serious harm without dropping a single bomb. Meanwhile, incompetent, but corrupt Trumpsters like Roger Stone plead not guilty to felony charges, John Bolton wants to send 5000 troops to Colombia and the malignant narcissist himself is either watching Fox News or Tweeting himself silly. And none of them give a hoot about the latest report from Dan Coats. God help us all !
7
Considering that Trump made his assessment of North Korea based on an Elton John song that’s 40 years old; the fact that intelligence chiefs would contradict that assessment is unsurprising.
1
Our president lives in his own world devoid of facts, scientific evidence or belief in his own intelligence agencies. A paranoid pathological liar who believes a lie told enough times somehow becomes the truth. A self serving hubris whose tainted renditions of reality have foreign dictators playing him like a fiddle. A Reality TV and Rock Star, for those who are incapable of thinking for themselves, but in no way presidential material.
3
Any intelligence that conflicts with that gathered by Fox & Friends will be considered invalid.
2
Is it really a contradiction or is it an oxymoron to say intelligence chiefs contradict trump?
substitute the word "obama" for "trump", and suddenly trump becomes a genius and a savior, ignoring the experts and getting us out of afghanistan- just like obama did when he left iraq.
imagine if bush ignored the intel about iraq wmd's- but when trump wants to ignore them, he is vilified.
pure trump derangement syndrome. nothing he can do is correct. nothing. zero.
1
You know I seem to remember this paper in editorials when Trump first started to talk about meeting Kim touting a bunch of nonsense about how NKorea could give up it's nukes if we do this & that. I wrote as did others, that anyone who thinks NKorea is giving any weapons up is seriously naive. Really stupid. And as far as Iran. I believe 98 Senators voted to extend sanctions on Iran the last time it came up. Most of them buy into the Iran threat garbage. And even if they don't, they are too scared of Netanyahu & the Israeli lobby to say it. So in the end what is this article, just more piling on..... I can't stand Trump, but I don't care if he meets Kim. In the grand scheme of things its a big waste of time. He probably wants to build a hotel there or something.
3
Clearly the biggest threats to our security (both cyber and physical) are: China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, terrorist groups, AND Donald J Trump
(aka the self stylin "stable genius" who's "smarter than all the generals", "I'm very very smart" the "self made billionaire" who started out with $413 million from racist Daddy Fred who bailed sonny boy out many times).
Yep, "President" Tweeter and so called leader, Mitch McCONnell are SERIOUS THREATS to OUR Democracy.
Pffffffft, Sean Hannity knows more than these bozos . . . .
2
Trump is a salesman.
You folks still don't get him.
He is smarter than the writers and readers here.
Trump knows all about the threats.
Do you really think he is going to yell cry fire while he is in charge?
You just don't understand the man.
Your actually rather him be a dummy at your own peril.
That is hatred to the max.
A real shame
1
i am dumbfounded by trump's effort to build a wall (or barrier, or whatever you want to call it) on the southern border - as he says - "from sea to shiny sea" - when it is not needed, yet at the same time, he disregards a true existential threat from north korea, and the threat of terrorist activities from ISIS - which he says has been defeated.
i almost don't care if he lies about inauguration crowds or other inconsequential events, but to lie to the American people in contradiction of the reports from the nation's intelligence agencies and their dedicated workers cannot be ignored or minimalized.
he continues to fail to live up to his oath of office and regardless of russian collusion, paying off his partners in adulterous activities, or even his appropriate actions on venezuela, this behavior is unforgivable. these are the threats to our democracy and he is the one person responsible for the danger we face.
625
@Steve Ell That is Putin telling Trump to mind his own borders and don't worry about Ukraine, the Baltic States, or the Balkans. It all makes sense after you realize everything he does fits with Putin's intentions for the U.S. The Trump administration has a faux disagreement with Russia and China over Venezuela. But it's a win-win for Putin. Trump will either roll-over or do something massively stupid like engage in a military action in South America.
66
@Steve Ell DT has no idea that his ignorance and vain obsessions are a danger to this country. He has withdrawn this country from multi lateral treaties meant to protect our country, and others. His "border wall" is necessary for our security? Immigrants are a larger security risk to our country than China and Russia? China and Russia tell him the truth, not our intelligence agencies? Then again he doesn't apparently read their reports. Is this the greater malfeasance he should be charged with?
63
It is not difficult to choose between the well-research, well-reasoned assessments from these intelligence professionals and President T's obsession with a 12-century wall.
Especially (and ironically) since the U.S.'s largest ladder company (formerly based in Kentucky) has moved its operations to Mexico.
11
Trump does not have a foreign or domestic policy. He has delusions. his proposed second meeting with Kim Jung Il is just a diversion. Trump does training to understand the issues nor the attention level to study the material necessary for a substantive meeting. The meeting on his part is purely diversionary in order to distract from the many investigations into his current and past activities, Also he seems to like being the center of attention and the related pomp and circumstance.
The sooner the House starts impeachment the better. The excuse that the Senate would vote on partisan lines is not valid. It the evidence on approximately 18 serious issues is not sufficient to convince the sooner we know it the better so that the public and what's left of governmental institutions can make alternative plans to protect the country from exterior treats and provide for domestic tranquility.
8
How would the intelligence chiefs feel about Congress using its impeachment powers to remove a dangerously misinformed and misguided president from the seat of power?
15
Absolutely stunning in its assessment of the real threats to our national security. As we now know, Trump is unlikely to actually READ this report. Indeed, does he read anything other that inflammatory right-wing tweets?
11
Fox News doesn't seem to be reporting this at all, not even in disagreement. We have no real hope of changing the political discourse in this country if a third of the electorate never gets real information about the world.
12
No worries; the Tweeter-in-Chief will just call out this Fake Intelligence for what it is, and then we can all get back to cheering that Mexico will pay for the wall.
And next week he'll deny that the earth is round, or that the sun is the center of the solar system.
Where did he learn about national intelligence, Trump University? Certainly not from the Intelligence briefings that he refused to hear, "until I need them".
8
Thankfully, there are still some competent professionals around.
7
As usual, Trump has no idea what he is talking about. He just makes it up as he goes along, without regard for the facts.
Trump lives in a "reality tv" world, and that is how he does everything, including playing APPRENTICE POTUS.
Why is anyone surprised?
5
These experts seem to have overlooked the "crisis" on the border.
4
Who we 'gonna' believe Intelligence professionals or a "President" who has been a known LIAR for decades and who has now told close to 8,000 documented, vetted LIES since taking office.
That's LIEs folks. Stop sugar coating trump's lying statements as "falsehoods" or other euphemisms for lies. The trump administration is filled with more corrupt lying dissemblers than any other in my lifetime. Topping the corrupt liars of the Bush/Cheney and Nixon administrations is no mean feat. As "President" Tweeter likes to trump, "Lock Them Up"
That includes you too, Sarah Sanders the lyin-est Press Secretary of all.
Just sayin.
10
Every foreign policy action by Trump is aligned with Russia's interests and their view of the world. Exit Syria- cedes Middle East control to Russia. Exit the Iran deal- weakens the multilateral pact and boost Russia's regional authority. Ignore the looming cybersecurity threats, while Russia and China ramp up their capabilities- certainly in Russia's interest. Continue sisyphean negotiations between a ruthless, deranged and dangerous North Korean dictator (who's entire dictatorship depends on its nuclear threat) and a hopelessly outmatched real estate developer- a welcomed waste of American time. Hyperbolize the "threat" on the southern border distracts the media, public and policymakers from the real dangers found in the first 40+ pages of the National Intelligence Estimate- a big bonus for Russia. We are being played for fools.
8
This is a complete farce. The intelligence community advises the Senate on top threats to the US, while in the very same moment Trump and his band of merry thugs continue to be in cahoots with these foreign adversaries and not just Russia. In plain sight, they are lining their own pockets and jeopardizing not just US security...can nobody stop them?
10
All one can say is. to the surprise of no one . . .
2
Pompeo? West Point grad? Ready for the next shutdown or worse? The sycophancy and creepiness of this cabinet and Senate Republicans is a debilitating disease on what now possibly poses as our democracy.
9
It's like "Seven Days in May" except were rooting for the military/intelligence and the president is the threat to national security. Yikes
4
Trump won't/can't even read the Presidential Daily Briefing, he gets all the information he wants from Fox/Hannity/Carlson, in short we're doomed.
4
Not only is he lying, it is highly doubtful that he bothers to carefully read what is reported to him. Perhaps if Mavel Comics would put the report into a more entertaining format for him, he might be inclined to read more of it.
3
When you swear an oath to the Constitution and the safety to our country..that usually means you do not have to obey a bloated liar.
6
This just confirms what everyone knew before the election in 2016: Trump is an incompetent buffoon who knows nothing about policy, foreign affairs, or how to advance U.S. interests. Thus, with all three of the biggest threats to the U.S., N. Korea, Iran, and Russia, he is worse than neutral, making missteps that put the U.S. at a greater disadvantage or a lesser advantage than when he took office. NOT a surprise. He is very good at sloganeering but is unfit for any office in which he is supposed to advance the interests of others, and not of himself. Actual Republicans struggled futilely to convince their constituents of this fact. Unfortunately, they created the tea party monster and had to accept the consequences, dragging down the rest of us.
8
Donald Trump's "reality" is not reality. Obvs.
3
Every action taken by Trump is as toxic as the man himself. Even mosquito's won't bite him.
2
Why don't American cult Republicans realize that everyone else in the world (with the exception of Putin and our enemies, of which there are now many more than two years ago) finds Trump repulsive, incompetent, a serial liar, abusive, narcissistic and a sociopaths criminal?
It is no wonder that our Intelligence community is so frustrated - Trump has absolutely no understanding of or concern for his (albeit illegitimate) presidency or the people that he has so abused over the past two years. I am amazed that he is even given intelligence briefings - he doesn't read them and wouldn't understand them (but the rest of his staff that has no security clearance seems to have access).
While the few real public servants that are left (and not yet in jail) are trying to hold this country together and prevent a war of ignorance and hubris, Trump continues to Tweet meaningless nonsense and delusion. That may be OK for his ridiculous failed businesses but not for MY country or ME.
I, and over 300,000,000 Americans resent his presence - so why is Congress not doing something about that?
9
My husband has been involved in global financial analysis for most of his professional life. Years ago, he said to m that China was our greatest threat to, well, just about everything. Actually, he said that China is poised to "take over the world". And that was before tRump began occupying space in the White House (heaven help us), after stealing the election, with help from Russia. So none of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Hello, people, Russia and China are now competing for WORLD DOMINATION. Be very afraid.
11
What does world domination look like to you?
Don’t put Russia and China in the same category. They pose entirely distinctive threats. Russia is a pipsqueak economy but with great potential which China would just love to tap into. Unfair trade and other issues get a lot of attention, but Trump is trying to beat China when it comes to entering that market. What else do you think Trump was talking about with Putin at Helsinki? Everyone was suspicious, but would Trump want China to know? The threat posed by China is not only constant but already well along in being fulfilled. Russia’s only advantage is its advanced weaponry, but they can’t use it unless they want to blow themselves up too. Donkeys like Warner are trying to make hay out of Russian collusion, but would they prefer closer relations between Russia and China? Unless Trump makes overtures to Putin, we will be shut out of the vast Russian marketplace with its untapped potential. Then we’ll really have to worry about Russia and China. That’s where it’s all going. Why are the Dems and the liberal press being so stupid?
1
China does not want to “take over” the world. Just be a dominant sovereign country that no one will mess with.
Russia would like to take the US down. They already have Trump’s help.
1
This makes no sense.
Do the intelligent chiefs have access to information that Trump doesn't have? j If so why haven't they given him the information?
Just more TDS on display.
4
They likely have. Thanks for the double speak.
6
Remember, Trump doesn’t read his PDB.
2
@George Orwell
No they give it to Fox, no news, that’s they only ones demented Donnie’s listens to!
Gee, trying to remember if our intelligence agencies have ever been wrong. You know, about big things like the collapse of the Berlin Wall, WMDs in Iraq, ad nauseum...
7
Goddess help us.
5
Facts?
You think Trump cares about facts?
Talk about flawed intelligence!
8
Oh, dear!
The adults are disagreeing with our diapered so-called president.
Won't matter.
White nationalists march to the beat of a different drum illuminated by tiki-torches.
13
Whatever Trump says, do the opposite. This is news?
12
We all have known re Iran and North Korea what was in the intelligence report. But they left out, understandably but with great regret, is that the greatest threat to our welfare and security is Trump himself.
Too bad there was no one of courage in Congress that day to pose that question, "Do you think Trump is on your list of US security threats and more specifically do you have any concerns that Trump is a Russian agent? Do you,
Mr FBI director? Your agency raised the question. Well what is your answer?"
Regrettable. Calling Trump out for the danger he poses is a patriotic courageous act of which all our leadership
Is incapable. What stops them? What do they fear?
You know...the truth will set you free.
11
Read all the comments and look at the hate. If this were Obama, would they be saying this?
3
The criticisms of Obama were just as vitriolic and far more racist, so I'd say yes. Obama was more harshly criticized.
4
of course not. because in their eyes, obama was never wrong and trump cant ever be right.
1
@KJH You betcha, and probably worse!
Perhaps the U.S. intelligence community needs to consult with Congresswoman Pelosi. She seems to excel at making points with clarity, concision and persuasiveness to even the most obdurate and obtuse opponents.
8
Trump cannot believed or trusted on most all things as he has proven to be a habitual liar. He is not qualified or informed. He is not even educated. When Fox noise becomes your touch stone for policy and direction the country is in grave danger. Is he the best America can do? National shame and embarrassment on a daily basis. He is not upholding his Constitutional duties as President and should be removed.
13
DDT
Are we surprised? The Orange Airbag doesn't even read his PDBs and has never found our Intelligence credible unless it suited his narcissistic political needs. The man is an idiot and delusional enough to think that he has the "ability" to "sense", in some alternate universe, the complex geopolitical issues with which even our best and brightest have great difficulty.
This is the child who sits in the classroom, not listening to the topic at hand or the teacher, and raises his hand incessantly with "answers" that are plucked out of the air and have nothing to do with the discussion or reality. This child with impulse control issues and an omnipresent constipated hissy fit can launch nukes, is SO vulnerable to flattery by hostiles and is completely ignorant of facts. He is a clear and present danger to the safety and security of this nation and must be throttled by Congress asap pending new legislation to severely limit his misused powers.
One thing he does well: make Putin smile ,and sleep well at night.
14
Sen John Kennedy R of La just said this about Roger Stone but it also applies to the president 'when his IQ reaches 75...sell'
8
War is peace
2
So stop supporting him and impeach the criminal
4
They don't matter, they are not on teevee and radio. And no Republican will ever do the right thing freely.
As long as the media reports both sides as equal, as long as white women vote for sexual predators...America is mediocre.
3
Who do you believe?
Intelligence chiefs? Bah.
These …
Fox: Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Huckabee: Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.
Coulter: Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!
2
Using every election scam on the books the Republicans put into the White House an ignorant, incompetent TV Clown called Donald Trump. Now their mascot Trump is destroying US credibility around the world to the great pleasure of both Vladimir Putin and the Chinese leadership.
Republican has now become the best definition of the word "traitor". We must throw the Trump and GOP out of our government for the sake of the entire planet!
8
with any luck the GOP will cease to exist.
2
I guess POTUS never got that memo
1
The orange-haired Lummox is only drawn to an issue or threat, that allows him (only him) to stand in the Limelight; Photo-ops and press-conferences where he can "swag-n-brag". The real threats, that demand working with our allies around the world, are not his thing: he can't claim all of the glory. He could care less about the USA. Top-10 / First-team Narcissist for sure.
3
Enemies of this country are rubbing their hands with glee right now. They are increasingly able to take serious advantage of the country's weaknesses because the president is clearly an idiot who is being manipulated by Putin.
5
Want else is new with this lying, incompetent, corrupt fool Trump.
Pathetic
4
How typical for the Intelligence group to know what is going on and for Trump not to!
11
He doesn’t read.
1
Will this be deemed Fake Intelligence...? There’s only place I know of where there’s fake intelligence and that’s in the Oval Office.
10
It’s naive to think NK would dismantle its existing nuclear arsenal. Why is Trump wasting a trip to meet with Kim jon Un? It only gives Kim more credibility with his own people.
And what on earth would they talk about? We’ve all figured out by now that Trump is NOT a negotiator, but rather a bully. That might work with the people who have been bamboozled by this con man. That ain’t gonna work with NK and Iran and Russia.
7
Exactly how do they know this? Using the same techniques as when they found the WMDs? I don't trust Coats or Haspel..
2
In Trump we trust.
@John Baker
I didn't trust Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon or Bush either...
It is very simple, but unstated by our intelligence agencie: Donald Trump is the biggest threat to our security. After him, come all his Congressional Republicans, heads in the sand.
Our president had yet to distinguish "reality" from Reality.
17
Trump is guilty of gross dereliction of duty in failing to read or heed the advice of the US intelligence community.
The Senate Intelligence Committee should receive the daily threat assessments until Trump is impeached.
The military would court martial a soldier who abandoned his sentry duty and exposed his unit to surprise attack.
Why are the standards different for the Commander In Chief ?
The other traitor, Mitch McConnell, would need to answer that question.
8
Am I the only person who read this article and is alarmed that the President of the United States is currently the most serious threat to our national security?
13
You are not but apparently the country is too jaded to do anything about it
1
Trump is not "THE" problem - Republicans are. I wonder if, behind closed doors, they ever truly assess Trump's behavior. Or, have they come to accept his versions of "reality" about multiple areas of concern (jobs pouring OUT, not in, N. Korea, climate change, etc.) Each possibility is equally frightening. All but Trump's "base" understand that Trump's agenda is TRUMP - his "tough guy" image and the desire for power that he can ultimately turn into wealth. It appears that nothing will enable Republicans to tell the truth to their constituents - not even war. It seems the only solution is to get them out of office and, once out, pass laws that create term limits for Congressmen and judges, including Supreme Court Justices, change campaign contribution laws, and evaluate how we determine the winners in elections. Obama urged us to take responsibility - most of us will not run for office, but we surely can influence who gets elected and how.
5
I am absolutely flummoxed how a nation with a strong, efficient and deeply rooted intelligence system has as the head of government the most unsuitable of leader I have seen outside of a despotic banana republic....
The fact that he is able to spew such rambling and idiotic views about world affairs without consequences needs to be addressed.....
6
Single issue voters: abortion, gun control, lower taxes, and deregulation reflect the general both ignorance of much of the American public. As with the shutdown, the "Wall" gets the attention where the real issue is the development of a Immigration Policy that provides security and appropriate legal opportunities for immigrants. It is evident, that in spite of presidential declarations Isis is not defeated, nor N Korea denuclearized. The Trump White House can only deal with one issue at a time, and the handling of the shutdown gives little confidence that it can deal with a real crisis which no doubt will arise. It will interesting to see how he responds to the testimony of his intelligence officials. How can Senate Republicans maintain the cognitive dissonance to continue to function?
4
Trump is just playing to his base, especially in regards to N. Korea: He wants to hear them chant “Nobel!” But this president is hallucinatory, which is why he sees things that no one else does, like his “emergency” on the border. There is also, of course, Trump’s extreme incompetence. He’s our clear and present danger.
4
It isn't as if Trump is mistaken or exhibiting poor judgement in ignoring these national security threats and inventing others that don't exist. He is doing it all intentionally, in service to the global agenda of a foreign adversary, Russia, who in the blink of an eye can enrich him or ruin him.
5
Hmm ... whom to believe?
Expert opinion on any topic, or Trump?
Let’s see, expert, Trump, expert, Trump, expert, Trump...
If only all my exam questions had been this obvious!
5
I think Trump wants further talks so he can put the finishing touches on the golf course and hotel complex they agreed to in their last secret meeting.
2
North Korea’s sovereignty is guaranteed by having nuclear weapons. Kim has been playing Trump to remove sanctions…and it worked.
Obviously, Iran’s economy depends on oil exports. Nuclear weapons development and deployment cost massive amounts of money that drain economic development and would be useless in the middle east as any use of such would yield a massive retaliation ending civilization as it stands now.
It seems the president, leading with his gut instead of critical thinking, doesn't realize this reality.
3
It doesn't appear that Mexico is a national security threat, either. So, no national emergency at the southern border ...
While it is certainly convenient to keep critical infrastructure, such as pipelines, power generation and transmission, water works on the Internet, it is crazy to do so in a world of hackers and malicious state actors. They need to be placed on individual private networks that do not even use Internet protocols. (The non - use of internet protocols is to avoid problems with accidental connections to the Internet or ones deliberately added by insiders wishing to, say, work from home.) Internet security is a constant battle in which the bad guys are always one step ahead and in which actual safety is almost certainly not possible. (The Internet was designed so sources could lie about who they are, which certainly isn't a good start in building a system that is safe from hackers.)
Trump repeatedly contradicts himself, much less intelligence agencies. So this is news?
1
A someone misleading headline regarding Iran. US Intelligence has never failed us before? Think Pearl Harbor. Think 9/11. Need I say more?
2
@Shadai Yes, think back and realize we knew in advance on both occasions and let them happen - your analysis is shady.
2
we are not native Americans and do not elect Chiefs
3
Having a Commander-in-Chief who is so out-of-step with reality is a clear and present danger. If our elected officials truly put Country ahead of Party, this by itself would be grounds for impeachment.
1
They’re fired!
3
Speaking truth to power! How it resonates. It’s an especially appealing way to characterize our intelligence agencies whose most famous alumni James Clapper and John Brennan can’t keep their mouths shut when it comes to trashing Trump—Nosferatu look-alike Clapper, the perjurer, and blowhard Brennan, erstwhile supporter of Communist Gus Hall. The NSA was collecting meta-data on American telephone calls which Clapper didn’t want to admit to. Next they’ll be wiring our toilet seats. The usual justification is national security, but “speaking truth to power” as Warner appointee April Doss puts it—? That is too much.
Has the FCC determined what was the cause of the nationwide Centurylink outage in December? One wonders if this is the beginning of an onset of Russian malware that caused this.
@Will R.
Will, thinking like that is why you ended up living in Boise
1
"The first mention of Mexico and drug cartels comes on Page 18 of the 42-page report, well after a range of other, more pressing threats are reviewed."
How about we take care of pages 1-17 first?
1
This story is not covered anywhere on Fox or Breitbart. So it must be fake news?
3
When it comes to Iran, Netanyahu tells Trump what to do.
1
Hello America, it's panic time.
1
In the space of 55 seconds, Coats said "nook yoo lar" three times!
2
Just more proof that you can't believe or trust Donald Trump or his close administration officials like Mike Pompeo or John Bolton, bootlickers and toadies to Trump, but not honest brokers when it comes to answering questions.
1
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is what we get when we have an imbecile and pathological liar in the White House.
3
@Larry M
You mean the day Pelosi visited?
I think this article makes one thing crystal clear. Rats leave a sinking ship. Not one person associated with Donald Trump has had the guts or the integrity to speak up in this way until Trump was--finally, and much too late--being seriously accused by those who spoke up because they got caught. Donald Trump has certainly demonstrated one fact about elected politicians in this country--they are completely spineless.
Greedy, self-centered, gutless, and corrupt to the core.
My reaction to this article is, "So what?"
5
While this administration mainly focuses on a wall along the southern boarder as our biggest threat and distracts all of us, the real threats from Russia and China are being all but ignored.
Trump core supporters are really as ignorant as he is. They will hasten the demise of America as a global power and all for what?
2020 - let's focus. Republicans are still thinking and acting like we are in 1950s.
5
So let me get this straight, the Iranians are compliant but the hard liners are gaining ground due to unrealized economic benefits of the deal, mostly due to renewed US sanctions, North Korea, with whom the President met in a show summit, is actively pursuing long range nuclear ballistic missiles, the Russians continue to attack us but the Senate allowed sanctions to be lifted and China continues to be a long range threat? And Trump, his administration and enablers in the Senate have given us a massive tax cut for the rich, a shut down for a threat that is not even on these folks’ radar and a bunch of baseless rhetoric about a witch hunt? And there’s still doubt that these guys are incompetent criminals? Once again, truth trumps fiction. And the pun is intended.
8
Why didn't these intelligence chiefs say what you said so well? If they all as a group pointed out that Trump is our greatest security threat... checkmate.
But,no, cowardice reigns supreme.
The big problem here is that people like Donald Trump and Roger Stone, etc, have been lying for so long, and getting away with it, that they actually believe their own hype. They are so used to lying, without consequences, that they believe they can use lies to bend reality to their will. Luckily for us, and, unfortunately for them, reality doesn't work that way.
What more and more people in their orbit are slowly starting to realize is that calling something a "witch hunt" and "fake news" may work with a few true-believers in the hinterland, but, it's not going to work with a federal judge.
My feeling is that Donald Trump and Associates little house of cards is finally, FINALLY, starting to collapse in on them. And the adults, such as those that are left, have had their fill of the Playhouse President.
I also think that Trump himself is starting to come undone. Listen to his speech after he was forced to reopen the government. It's an endless series of rambling, dis-associative thoughts.
While Mr. Trump's candidacy and election may have been a real corker for those who hoped to enrage "those intellectual elites", the fact is, we have a nation to run. And as this intelligence report and briefing indicate, we live in a very complex and dangerous world. One in which Trump's simplistic, "soundbite", "catch-phrase", "reality TV" approach isn't going to cut it.
In other words, the joke is over. And while it wasn't really that funny in the first place, it's time to move on...
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While all the topics and countries discussed in this article are important when understanding U.S. security, I believe this is a classic example of burying the lede.
Trump demands that we export more. How about we export him and his entire family to Russia? I can't think of anything that would benefit our country more.
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No, no, no. You don't understand. As we learned under George W. Bush, intelligence services are only meant to tell the President what he wants to hear.
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Boomers need to get out of Washington - we need leaders and legislators who understand what things like two-factor authentication is.
Listening to some of the Senators question Facebook and Twitter executives recently is frankly, embarrassing to watch. They should be ashamed to be so misinformed about something that literally is able to swing democratic elections.
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There is an inherent contradiction between Donald Trump and the very notion of intelligence.
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Perhaps not an Article 92, but this president has clearly and publicly demonstrated Dereliction of Duty to his oath of office on so many levels - here's one more case in point.
4
Pres. Trump "keeps things simple" for his base.
Fortunately, at least some officials in the executive branch are articulating (non-simplistic) facts.
Our democracy, which relies upon an informed, educated citizenry, needs accurate facts.
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Well, who are you going to believe?
“Ghostbusters “? I believe our extremely dedicated and knowledgeable services.
Trump lack of knowledge and comprehension make him a clear and present danger to our nation and the world at large.
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Neither North Korea, Russia or anyone else will launch missiles against the U.S.
Too easy to trace and retaliate.
Rather, they have likely already positioned nuclear devices in urban areas and near military installations. When detonated, untraceable. How hard is it to drive a nuclear device in a boat up the Potomac River and park it in a marina in DC? New York? Norfolk?
I have yet to see an assessment, preparation or defense for such a simple strategy. It reminds me of the 9/11 surprise that camel riding nomads could use airplanes as weapons.
This lack of imagination and thus lack of defense may have something to do with the fact that more people make more money selling hardware to defend against nonexistent threats.
-30-
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I am sorry.
For this country the main threat is not from Russia,China and North Korea. They are the external threats and we know that.
What we should worry about is the internal threat from the current President, Donald Trump and his mental state. I never thought some republican senators will be so scared of this man.
Hello Senators! Country First.
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@DJ That's hillarious thinking that Republican Senators would put Country over party. Will. Never. Happen.
"U.S. Intelligence Chiefs Contradict Trump on North Korea and Iran" Well it's been that way the last 2 years now hasn't it? The problem is the truth doesn't work well for Trump or his supporters, to the detriment of us all.
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Any security assessment that fails to characterize the situation at the border as one of the biggest challenges we have faced in decades is at odds with reality. 70,000 Americans died last year alone from overdoses, most of it from heroine and fentanyl the majority of which is coming across our border with Mexico! Yes there are a variety of reasons our fellow citizens are dropping dead from overdoses, only part of which is a supply side issue, but there is no question that an increase in supply leads to what we’ve witnessed: street drugs very available, prices plummeting while purity levels skyrocket. Does anyone seriously doubt that people inclined to use heroine would use more if it were cheaper, more available and of higher purity? The first principle of economics is that people respond to incentives; make a given action cheaper, easier to do and/or more effective at bringing about the desired outcome, and people will respond by doing more of it. All of these things are currently the case with heroine/fentanyl, and yet a lot of people want to pretend that looking the other way and allowing drugs to flood into our country is a viable course of action. It isn’t. Maybe the wall wouldn’t have any effect on drug inflows. I doubt it. I doubt a single report has been written on the topic by someone who hadn’t already decided what the answer was. Once you know what the answer should be, it’s easy to find the data to support the answer you seek while ignoring data contradicting it.
What can mere "Experts" bring to the discussion when we have a "Stable Genius" with an intelligent "gut" as an advisor?
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It would be useful if the article offered a more balanced perspective by pointing out the multiple threats that the US poses, or may pose, to other countries. ie: yes, the North may be duplicitous about its nuclear capabilities. But the US also has nukes, and has used them on civilian populations ,and has a recent record of initiating wars of choice. The US also, of course, has interfered in Russian elections and it is highly improbably that its own cyber warfare program has not penetrated Russian and Chinese security systems. This is American exceptionalism and nationalism at its worst.
1
The deep state (aka people who are not delusional, pathological liars, don't mistake posturing with foreign policy and work for the federal government) strikes again. Maybe the real reason for the shutdown was to give Trump a break from all the Federal workers who aren't crazy.
It's okay. Don Juan and KJ "fell in love."
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The Problem with Populous Liars: They entice people into believing their lies. What happens as s result? Facts are questioned, data becomes skews, and good people, who are trying to do the right thing, for the common good, are pushed aside, in order to meet someone else’s agenda.
If the Mueller probe isn’t enough, this should make even the most right wing conservatives quiver in their boots.
Trump should be impeached for this alone. Why those fat cats in the Senate tolerate such nonsense is beyond reason.
Amid the distractions of the aforementioned scandals, the daily business of politics, goes unchecked, and the world becomes a much scarier
place.
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Happy to have these accountings as they should increase
general public awareness and hopefully diminish W/H efforts to subvert the same on a whackadoodle whim.
1
As always with the Donald it's
Trump First
Party Second
America Last
3
This news report ought to cause every clear-eyed American to revisit the question of presidential impeachment. If the deliberate pursuit of policies contrary to the nation’s genuine security needs is not grounds for removal from office, what would be?
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This is the predictable outcome of placing a narcissist in control of the world’s most powerful nation. A narcissist will always believe he alone is right about any issue. He has nothing but disdain for contradictory information or opinion. When proven wrong, the narcissist will always shift the blame to another; he will not assume responsibility for anything that goes wrong. A narcissist is incapable of empathy. The suffering of others is meaningless in a narcissist’s world; only his own suffering bears relevance. The narcissist is not “insane”, but is dangerously “flawed” . Trump is truly dangerous to the world.
4
Is it okay if I still want to fear migrant woman holding child?
1
Basically Trump and the Republican Criminal Organization he heads have abdicated their responsibility to defend our nation and broken their oaths of office. They need to be removed from power as quickly as possible, tried for treason and given the full penalty of the law commensurate with their crimes.
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Hey! Has any of these top Intel-law-chiefs mentioned any of the plot points from a movie (Sicario) Trump has said goes on at the southern border? Like the smugglers having amazing cars that out pace Border Agent vehicles! Or the multitudes of prayer blankets found in the desert?
Yes, people, our president quotes movie plot points like they are Intelligence data. Cool, huh?
Its fantasy, Hollywood story lines that educate our president. Give him intelligence for his decision making process.
What have we done, as citizens, that is so awful that we would end up with this dotard as POTUS?
I mean, come on! Ive been looking at the history, I know we make stupid mistakes, we let dumb things keep happening, that we could better control...but this?!?
For the love of all that's sacred, could the Deep State take over all the TVs that Trump watches, all the devices he uses to watch news and movies, and start piping in some reality? Or at least the right movies to steer him in the right directions! Or simply distract him in total.
Some soft children's stories, with good moral endings, That show everyone getting along. Some PBS stuff. Sesame Street! SpongeBob?
But not Pinky and the Brain! That one might stir him up, make him think there is an evil mouse mastermind and declare a national emergency!
But find a movie that applauds keeping the Govt open! Something from the archives...
2
I'm grateful that our govenrment has not collapsed even in the face of an absurd lying commander-in-chief. Thank God America will outlive this nightmare of this madman we elected.
1
@Emile Farge
Our goverment has collapsed...
It's always the unknown unknowns that take you down.
Least surprising headline in history:
Intelligent People Contradict Trump
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Anyone with grade school intelligence contradicts President Trump.
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"... directly contradicting two top tenets of President Trump’s foreign policy."
Tenets? You mean alternative facts, or wishful thinking, or "What I Just Heard On Fox News"?
"Tenet" is a palindrome; pretty cool. I'm quite sure that Trump couldn't use either word in a sentence. So bombast from our Ignoramus-in-Chief meets reality. Trump's base doesn't care. Republicans don't care. They're all too busy guarding restrooms from trangenders.
3
Mr. Trump is a world disaster. He "believes" and will not listen to analysis, reasoning, or facts.
Everything international is inverted with him. The consequences could be the annihilation of the human race to pump up his ego and beliefs.
He rages about immigrants while staking the entire world on his own ignorance. Isis, Iran, North Korea, Russia, NATO. He bases everything on his own ignorance.
1
And anyone is surprised?
1
For Trump and his core followers the world is a zero-sum game, one in which the U.S. is always bested. Any treaty, compact or agreement arrived at by the normal process of diplomatic give-and-take is thus assumed ipso facto to disadvantage the US.
It is this paranoia that drives Trump’s foreign policy (such as it is). It also explains his preference for autocracy over democracy. Only by exerting absolute control, can he, Trump, be assured he will end up on top, winning, in any encounter or relationship.
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I am very perplexed - there are only two ways of switching off the power grid.
The first is from the inside - sitting at a major distribution company control center - where one is never alone, and making changes to the code. Or making a physical attack - this can be 99% eliminated by having sufficient monitors and watchers, people and systems alert to tampering - or a physical attack on a key location.
The second is only available if the control system has any points that connect with a public access point - and allowing any public internet access to any point on the grid is insanity.
Simply running fiber along with the power lines and prohibiting any Internet/telco access makes “breaking into the system a 99% impossibility. I’ll never say never, but with an isolated control system running along with the power, a secure system can determine exactly where highly encrypted signals are coming from - one cannot splice a laptop or access point into the system without reporting one’s exact location.
If utilities are relying on the Internet, they are inviting disaster through intrusion anywhere in the world.
But if a separate, isolated network of fiber is in place, running right along existing power company rights of way, intrusion is almost impossible.
Does the report state how access could possibly occur?
4
I was thinking the same thing. I thought the transmission and distribution systems of America’s electric utilities were closed. As you note, it only requires running fiber along existing infrastructure. Actually, I thought the utilities had already done this.
There should be no point where a closed system can connect to the internet. None. This threat report suggests otherwise.
4
The intelligence community can think, read, follow conversations, reassess their positions as new facts arise and are interested in our countries security more than personal profit. Accordingly, the intelligence community has little in common with Mr. Trump.
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Makes no difference to trump if he is contradicted in his lies. The Doomsday Clock is still at 2 minutes to Midnight. trump himself is responsible if it moves closer. He doesn't care what the professionals say, he knows better than all of the world together.
Don't forget because he says it everyday.
7
This will have little affect on our Very Stable Genius, who "knows what he knows" and thinks our biggest threat is migrants coming over the border. He is totally unaware of the real dangers to our security, and continues to aggravate and enable these dangers.
8
There now, that really did not hurt. Did it?
Actually allowing American Intelligence leaders inform the American people is a good thing.
Now if our spineless and witless congress could manage to have open hearings with Michael Cohen and the other conspirators, America could bypass Trump News, and actually have adults explain the truth in a form easily understood.
9
Hasn't everyone forgotten, Trump knows more about EVERYTHING than ANYONE because he reminds us in piecemeal every time he opens his mouth.
In terms of the electricity grids, potential for planting malware and protecting the critical infrastructure, is it any surprise Texas has its own electricity grid? https://www.bryantelectricservice.com/why-does-texas-have-its-own-power-grid/
In addition to the solar panels and wind turbines, another source of environmental friendly energy would be to harness hydroelectricity is with some amendments to the existing Rio Grande Compact to add waterwheels in the Elephant Butte and Cabello reservoirs so as to generate energy constantly and when water is released do something the similar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Grande_Compact
Along the Rio Grande, install 15-20 water locks to maintain a relatively uniform water depth thus helping the drought areas in the Presidio. With border fencing IN THE RIVER secured only by an angled support rod every hundred feet or so, this would allow rancher's cattle to continue drink from the river, imminent domain would be limited to maybe a 4'x4' patch of concrete and an angled steel support slat anchored to a fence.
5
These findings are not surprising to me. Why would North Korea give up its nuclear weapons if the Western Alliance and primarily the USA is not moving and stopping some of the sanctions. Also, Iranian Leasers are in a tough position. No matter if they are part of the fundamental part of supporting liberals who attempt to change the country. With the withdrawal from the agreement Trump guaranteed that fundamental force gain strength. There are no sign that Iran is working towards nuclear weapons and therefore no reason to withdrawal from the agreement. And even worse trying to force other countries to stop economic relations with Iran. I hope my country and other countries in the EU who are still loyal to the contract will not budge to the bully in the White House and will help companies in their engagement in Iran. Iran has only a future and a chance in developing democratic institutions when we support their efforts and do not help their fundamentalist Leaders by make the innocent citizens suffer.
3
If we had a Democratic president the Republicans would justifiably be up in arms, but since they’ve adopted “party before country”, other than a few outliers expressing “concern”, they will do nothing to jeopardize Trump’s or their own hold on power. Disgraceful is too gentle a description for these hypocrites. Treasonous seems more appropriate.
7
what a sad state of affairs, I blame both sides for this debacle.
1
Both sides? You sound like trump in response to Charlottesville. Republicans own the disaster that is the Trump administration. No one else.
1
@mks
You are right. I think we should all vote Independent next time. Agreed?
It's frightening to realize that Trump doesn't have the capacity to think of the effect his actions have on so many others. His life behind a wall of money has stunted the one learning experience that keeps human history bending toward justice: that no one is an island unto themself.
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But Trump told us he knows more than the Generals and the intelligence services put together.
4
The current administration lives in some alternate international universe. Iran gave up nuclear weapons: we had a signed treaty with which they complied, and then we tore it up. The administration treats them as bad guys. North Korea still has nuclear weapons and a program to develop them and supply them. And somehow, they are now the good guys.
4
This proves once again that the Trump White House is a fact free zone. Trump has no use for professional intelligence assessments or any policy analysis at all. He simply does what he sees fit based upon his verbal and visual assessment of what is going on around him. If he can watch it on television, he can absorb some of it. Otherwise, if ideologues that advise him supply him with information, that is all that he needs.
4
“At the moment, technically they are in compliance, but we do see them debating among themselves because they haven’t seen the economic benefits they hoped for from the deal.”
The deal no longer exists thanks to the "very stable genius".
3
I guess this is what Trump means by the "Deep State" - and suppose he has to fire them now. Let's see how Fox covers this.
1
Finally. Adults are speaking.
4
Trump does not care. He is incapable of engaging in critical thinking or strategy. His simplistic "gut following" approach to foreign policy is an existential threat to our nation.
The Donald does not have the attention span to follow all of the steps necessary to understand and develop a plan.
Further his ego does not allow him to accept advice from anybody, no less our top intelligence people.
We have two more years of breath holding before we can get a sentient being leading in this dangerous world.
4