U.S. intelligence chiefs reportedly want to scrap their public global threat testimony to avoid angering Trump


The U.S. director of national intelligence and the heads of the CIA, FBI, NSA, and other intelligence agencies testify each year on the global threats facing the U.S., with a part of the hearing in public and the other part behind closed doors. This year, Politico reports, "the U.S. intelligence community is trying to persuade House and Senate lawmakers to drop the public portion" of the Worldwide Threat briefing so agency chiefs can't "be seen on-camera as disagreeing with the president on big issues such as Iran, Russia, or North Korea," as happened last year, provoking "an angry outburst" from President Trump.
Lawmakers, especially in the Senate, are expected to reject the request, so far broached only through staff-level channels. The intelligence community has rejected the House Intelligence Committee's invitation for public global threats testimony for the past two years, and "a third refusal could cause tensions between the two sides to boil over," Politico says. On the other hand, at the Senate's hearing last year, the agency chiefs presented intelligence on ISIS, Iran, and North Korea's nuclear ambitions that didn't mesh with Trump's statements, and Trump "blistered them on Twitter" as "passive" and "naive."
"Trump later claimed his top intelligence chiefs, including then-DNI Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel, told him that they had been misquoted in the press — even though their remarks had been broadcast and the video footage was publicly available," Politico recalls. Coats stepped down in August and the current DNI, Joseph Maguire, has been doing the job for five months in an acting capacity. You can read more at Politico.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department
-
Cuomo announces third-party run for NYC mayor
Speed Read He will go up against progressive Democratic powerhouse Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shooting
Speed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life