Senior intelligence officials carefully tailor the president's daily briefing on the nation's secrets by bringing up information ...
Senior intelligence officials carefully tailor the president's daily briefing on the nation's secrets by bringing up information on autocrats and economic development to spark his attention, while dancing around freighted topics like Russian election interference, according to a new report.
Donald Trump continues to 'rarely if ever' read intelligence reports according to the New York Times.
The story describes myriad ways the intelligence community tries to convey critical information to a president who comes through as lacking in attention and unable to remain on task.
President Donald Trump doesn't read his daily intelligence brief, causing U.S. intelligence officials to seek out ways to hold his attention during oral briefings, according to a report
This extends to the the President's Daily Brief, the compendium of intelligence information that includes that nation's best secrets.
'He has a short attention span and rarely, if ever, reads intelligence reports,' according to the report, based on interviews with 10 current and former intelligence officials.
The paper examined the intelligence briefing process in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that has led to the death of more than 90,000 Americans. The focus comes amid efforts to understand what Trump was told about the virus that could have inspired an earlier response or prepared the nation earlier.
The pushback from the intelligence community comes after Trump described his first briefing on the virus, on January 23, as inadequate and downplaying the threat posed by the virus. Trump said he was told 'it was not a big deal.'
'On Jan. 23, I was told that there could be a virus coming in but it was of no real import,' Trump told Fox News in his interview staged inside the Lincoln Memorial.
'In other words, it wasn't, "Oh, we've got to do something, we've got to do something." It was a brief conversation and it was only on Jan. 23. Shortly thereafter, I closed the country to China. We had 23 people in the room and I was the only one in the room who wanted to close it down,' Trump said.
'He has a short attention span and rarely, if ever, reads intelligence reports,' according to the Times
At briefings, 'you see a president questioning the assumptions and using the opportunity to broaden the discussion to include real-world perspectives,' said Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell
Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner uses a variety of methods to try to keep the president engaged
He was referencing the decision to cut off travel to the U.S from China – a step taken a week after the January 23 briefing. It affected Chinese nationals, but not U.S. citizens, traveling from China.
The report describes Trump as frequently veering off task – and bringing up information he gathers from his own network of friends and contacts.
It mentions retired golf pro Gary Player, casino magnate Steve Wynn, and Mar-a-Lago member and Newsmax chief Chris Ruddy.
Briefers sometimes to bring up dictators like Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to 'draw in' the president on difficult topics. The intelligence officer who briefs him, Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner, uses this and other topics to try to get information to Trump and avoid sending him off in the wrong direction.
To avoid setting Trump off on the threat of Russian election interference – Trump regularly rails against the 'Russia hoax' – she cloaks information by bringing up broader election threats from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, according to the report.
The focus on Trump's intelligence regimen comes amid questions about what Trump was told about coronavirus that could have inspired an earlier response
Gary Player from South Africa signs autographs during the PNC Father Son Challenge golf tournament at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando. He is among sources of tips and gossip for President Trump
Briefers learned early to exercise caution when bringing up Russian election interference. Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a videoconference with Cabinet officials at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 19, 2020
The deadly coronavirus that is ripping through the country and tanking the economy is the backdrop for the account.
DNI spokeswoman Susan Miller told the paper earlier this month Trump was first briefed on the virus January 23, in a briefing that downplayed the threat. Trump was 'told that the good news was the virus did not appear that deadly,' she said.
The DNI's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the story.
Acting DNI Ric Grenell, who Trump strongly praised at a cabinet meeting this week, said it was 'flat wrong' that the president was a difficult person to brief and didn't dispute the idea of briefings running on an unanticipated course. 'When you are there, you see a president questioning the assumptions and using the opportunity to broaden the discussion to include real-world perspectives,' he told the paper.
Trump's national security advisor Robert O'Brien was even more laudatory. 'The president is laser-focused on the issues at hand and asks probing questions throughout the briefings — it reminds me of appearing before a well-prepared appellate judge and defending the case,' he said.
Officials said Trump's first briefer, Ted Gistaro, burned out and that Trump woudld turn angry over bad news reports.
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