Trump bashes FISA bill, then supports it, in baffling Twitter tirade

Tweets by President Trump made him seem confused about his own goals.

(Image credit: Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)

published 11 January 2018

President Trump on Thursday appeared bewildered by his own administration's goals, tweeting out his disapproval of a House bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) — a contradiction of the White House's official position — before tacking his support back onto it an hour and a half later.

As Jonathan Chait observed at New York, Trump's initial tweet was apparently a response to Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano, who advised Trump on TV against the reauthorization of the bill. "The president's alarm was unfortunate, since the Trump administration strongly supports reauthorization of this law," Chait writes. "It has sent its highest-ranking security officials to lobby Congress for reauthorization, and reiterated its endorsement of the law as recently as last night."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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