Trump flew into a rage every time US intelligence warned him about Russia, so officials gave up briefing him on it, report says

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-got-angry-if-warned-about-russia-so-officials-avoided-2020-7

Mia Jankowicz
July 2, 2020

President Donald Trump was briefed less and less with warnings about Russia's behavior toward the US because he would get angry when presented with intelligence about it, CNN reported on Wednesday.

Early in Trump's presidency, officials learned to limit their verbal briefings on the topic and would often see their written materials ignored, former administration officials told CNN's Jim Sciutto.

"The president has created an environment that dissuades, if not prohibits, the mentioning of any intelligence that isn't favorable to Russia," a former senior national security staffer told CNN.

John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, who started in May, and Robert O'Brien, the national security adviser, denied the accounts.

•••••

Ratcliffe told CNN in a statement that this was "totally false." O'Brien told the outlet that the claims were "ridiculous" and that the intelligence had not been reliable enough to pass on to the president.

CNN's report is also in line with Trump's well-documented deference toward Putin despite warnings. As one former US ambassador to Russia put it in a tweet on Wednesday, Trump "always sides with Putin."

•••••