President Trump blamed “fake news” and said top U.S. intelligence officials were “misquoted” by the press after their appearance before Congress Tuesday — a departure from his previous statements about the hearing.
Although Trump initially characterized the intelligence officials as “naive,” Trump said Thursday that intelligence officials told him their comments before the Senate Intelligence Committee, some of which appeared to contradict Trump’s own claims, were taken out of context.
Trump tweeted Thursday that “we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc” and that the press “distorted” their testimonies.
“I did and they said they were totally misquoted and taken out of context,” Trump said to reporters when asked if he had talked to intelligence officials about their testimony, and he advised reporters to call the intelligence officials.
“They said it was fake news,” Trump said.
Trump also shared a photo on Twitter Thursday depicting him in the Oval Office with the intelligence officials and claimed, “[W]e had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!”
….I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2019
During the public hearing, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats claimed that the Islamic State has “returned to its guerrilla warfare roots while continuing to plot attacks and direct its supporters worldwide.” The comments seemingly contradict statements from Trump, who claimed last month that ISIS had been “defeated.”
Additionally, Coats told lawmakers that U.S. intelligence doesn’t believe Iran is working to develop a nuclear device at this time. However, he noted Iran has signaled it could “push the boundaries” of the 2015 Iran deal, which put restraints on its nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling sanctions. Trump, who had called the agreement “the worst deal ever,” pulled out of the pact last year.
“While we do not believe Iran is currently undertaking activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device, Iranian officials have publicly threatened to push the boundaries of [the Iran nuclear deal] restrictions if Iran does not gain the tangible financial benefits it expected from the deal,” Coats said in his annual assessment.
In response, Trump lambasted the intelligence officials and said they were “extremely passive and naive” about Iran’s nuclear capabilities as he suggested they “go back to school.” Trump’s jabs at the American intelligence community drew backlash from top congressional Democrats.
For example, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., tweeted, “It’s deeply dangerous that the White House isn’t listening.”
