Analysis & Opinions - Prospect

Is Trump's Rage at US Intelligence Unprecedented?

| Jan. 12, 2017

With enemies like these, who needs friends?

Media reports often like to describe news as "unprecedented," when in fact, on closer inspection, we find that similar events occurred in the past. It is tempting to suppose that the remarkable public distrust shown between US President-Elect, Donald Trump, and the US intelligence community, is not too different from times past, when US spy agencies also attracted the scorn of presidents. Perhaps all that is new today is that a president-elect's suspicion about intelligence is now playing publicly, on Twitter, for all to see, rather than behind closed doors....

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Walton, Calder.“Is Trump's Rage at US Intelligence Unprecedented?.” Prospect, January 12, 2017.