On Twitter, Trump launches odd broadside at 'intelligence' community over 'Russian hacking' briefing

(Image credit: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 4 January 2017

A senior U.S. intelligence official says there's at least one major error in Donald Trump's latest tweet aimed at the intelligence community.

On Tuesday night, Trump diluted his suspicions surrounding foreign interference with the presidential election into a 140-character message, tweeting: "The 'intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" The problem, the intelligence official told NBC News, is that reports stating Trump was to be briefed in New York City by the CIA, NSA, and FBI heads on Wednesday were false — the meeting was always scheduled for Friday. The tweet is not only "disturbing" and "adversarial," the official told NBC News, but Trump is "calling out the men and women of the intelligence community the way he called out Lockheed and Boeing, but these are public servants."

Trump knows a thing or two about delays — on Dec. 12, he announced he was postponing until January a press conference slated for Dec. 15, where he was supposed to reveal his plans for dealing with conflicts of interest during his presidency (he will allegedly hold a "general news conference" next week). The country is also still waiting for an address from his wife, Melania, that was promised in August; Trump said at the time she would "over the next couple of weeks" hold a press conference to discuss reports that she violated immigration laws when she first arrived in the United States (Melania did release a letter from her attorney on her Twitter page in September, but never spoke about the allegations).

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox