February 4, 2019

Lots of talk this morning on Morning Joe about Trump's CBS interview last night, and the TIME magazine piece about Trump's "willful ignorance" displayed during intelligence briefings.

Senior briefers are leaking like crazy, warning that Trump is jeopardizing the country's security. Mika Scarborough read from the TIME article:

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s renewed attacks on the U.S. intelligence community this week, senior intelligence briefers are breaking two years of silence to warn that the President is endangering American security with what they say is a stubborn disregard for their assessments.

Citing multiple in-person episodes, these intelligence officials say Trump displays what one called “willful ignorance” when presented with analyses generated by America’s $81 billion-a-year intelligence services. The officials, who include analysts who prepare Trump’s briefs and the briefers themselves, describe futile attempts to keep his attention by using visual aids, confining some briefing points to two or three sentences, and repeating his name and title as frequently as possible.

What is most troubling, say these officials and others in government and on Capitol Hill who have been briefed on the episodes, are Trump’s angry reactions when he is given information that contradicts positions he has taken or beliefs he holds. Two intelligence officers even reported that they have been warned to avoid giving the President intelligence assessments that contradict stances he has taken in public.

The TIME piece concluded that, while briefers are "heartened" by the intelligence community leaders who contradicted Trump in public last week, the concern is that those leaders may eventually give up on trying to explain the facts to the Orange Cheeto.

I suggest they simply call the Kremlin and ask Vlad what they're allowed to tell him.

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