Trump Directs His Ire At Coats, But Knows Consequences Of Ousting DNI

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 22: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats departs a meeting on Capitol Hill on May 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Leaders of the intelligence and law enforcement community briefed members of t... WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 22: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats departs a meeting on Capitol Hill on May 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Leaders of the intelligence and law enforcement community briefed members of the House on election security measures.(Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images) MORE LESS

President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with his director of national intelligence, who has gone mildly rogue in recent days following Trump’s performance at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Politico reported.

According to two outside Trump allies who spoke to Politico, the President is getting irritated with Dan Coats, who responded sarcastically after being blindsided during a live interview on Thursday in Aspen, Colorado. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted during his interview with NBC that Trump was working to bring Putin to Washington, D.C. for a visit in the fall.

“That’s going to be special,” Coats said when asked about the news.

After Trump appeared to publicly support Putin’s denial of election meddling during a press conference on Monday, Coats put out a telling statement, openly disapproving of Trump’s comments during the presser.

Despite the rising tension, Trump allies told Politico that they’re aware that firing Coats would “create an uncontainable firestorm on Capitol Hill,” in Politico’s words.

Read the full Politico report here. 

183
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. they’re aware that firing Coats would “create an uncontainable firestorm on Capitol Hill,” in Politico’s words.

    By all means, don’t let that stop you.

  2. That firestorm’s not an if, you morons … it’s a when.

    And you don’t need the long-range forecast to see it, either.

  3. “create an uncontainable firestorm on Capitol Hill,”

    Maybe after the Nov. election but now? They may grumble, possibly bitch even, but more than that…I’m not buying it.

  4. From Below the Street, and Thinking of Childhood by Robert Zimmerman, Distinguished Professor of Economics.

  5. “We’re disappointed the President fired Dan Coats. We’re now fairly concerned about the ability of President Trump to receive good intelligence. But we are looking forward to President Trump’s next DNI, if there is one.”

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

177 more replies

Participants

Avatar for xpurg8d Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for clunkertruck Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for cvilledem Avatar for gtomkins Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for alyoshakaramazov1 Avatar for ottnott Avatar for leftcoaster Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for junebug Avatar for khyber900 Avatar for katscherger Avatar for maximus Avatar for dominic Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for dogmaalsocatma Avatar for captain_america Avatar for mtw Avatar for thomaspaine

Continue Discussion