During his first term in office, former U.S. President Donald Trump had a highly contentious relationship with the U.S. intelligence community. He publicly assailed their work, reportedly shared classified information with Russian officials, and was accused of politicizing intelligence for political gain.
Curious how the intelligence community is feeling about the prospect of a second Trump presidency, I reached out to James Clapper, who served as the director of National Intelligence for seven years during the Obama administration.
“I think it’s fair to say there is a good bit of apprehension in the IC [intelligence community] about a potential second Trump term—starting with whom he would install in leadership positions, particularly at CIA, ODNI, and the FBI,” Clapper said in an email.
“I would assess his general suspicion of the IC, and his disdain for what it does will be more prevalent than it was during the first term,” he added.
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