Trump again doubts his intelligence officials: 'Time will prove me right, probably'

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

published 31 January 2019

President Trump on Thursday insisted that he's sure he's right in questioning the conclusions of his intelligence officials — well, he's pretty sure.

Trump was asked whether he still has confidence in Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel, after he publicly called their assessments into doubt. "I disagree with certain things that they said," Trump responded, claiming that "time will prove me right, probably."

Trump once again cited Iran as an example of disagreeing with Coats and Haspel, as they recently testified that Iran has not violated the terms of former President Barack Obama's nuclear deal, prompting an angry tweet from Trump who told them to "go back to school!" Trump on Thursday also said that "a tremendous amount of good things are happening" in the fight against ISIS in Syria; his intelligence officials had made clear that ISIS is not, in fact, defeated in Syria as Trump had been declaring.

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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