Did Donald Trump Really Act This Way During Intelligence Briefings?
Another day, another book exposing how Donald J. Trump really behaved while he served as the 45th president of the United States. In this case, rather than a salacious tell-all by a family member or former staffer, it's a publication directly from the CIA for the Intelligence Community. It also confirms much of what we've heard before, and will probably make as much difference. Another new book — well, a new edition of an old book — has been released, with details about how Trump worked with the IC while president. The fourth edition of "Getting to Know the President" by John L. Helgerson was published in October and includes a new chapter on the 2016 election and transition period that brought Trump to the White House.
The book's description explains how former President Harry Truman created the CIA and IC, and began the custom of sharing classified intelligence briefings on foreign developments with potential presidential candidates so that the candidates can be best informed before taking office. He also wanted to encourage a smooth working relationship between the new president and the intelligence community.
As lofty as that goal sounds and as well as it may have worked before 2016, it failed when Trump took office largely because of the way he treated it. As the description said, "Briefing Trump presented the IC with the most difficult challenges it had ever faced."
The big revelation about Donald Trump's behavior isn't really new
John Helgerson's book, "Getting to Know the President," reinforces some earlier reports about how Donald Trump interacted with the CIA and the Intelligence Community, and his work with "PDBs," or President's Daily Briefs. PDBs are daily summaries that tell the president about any high-level intelligence and national security issues. They sound pretty important. And yet, this book confirms what Axios and other outlets had reported in 2018: Trump didn't read them, seemingly justifying the "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" trending hashtag, #Trumpcantread. "He touched it," CIA analyst Ted Gistaro said (via Rolling Stone) about the briefs, explaining, "He doesn't really read anything." Instead, Trump preferred bullets, and would have a staffer tell him aloud the essential points.
To make matters worse, Trump didn't even try to create a good working relationship with the intelligence community, doing the total opposite instead: "Trump had publicly criticized CIA ... and disparaged the substantive work and integrity of the intelligence agencies," the book description reads. Helgerson elaborates (via Rolling Stone), saying Trump "doubted the competence of intelligence professionals and felt no need for regular intelligence support." This created the worst relationship between president and intelligence staff since Nixon was in office, 50 years before.
Russia's interference with the 2016 election caused problems, as well, and helped Trump discredit the intelligence community even more. He publicly asserted his mistrust in the CIA when it reported that Russia helped get Trump elected — all while he publicly elevated Russian President Vladimir Putin.