Trump advisers angry over intel chief’s Aspen interview: report

Source: The Hill | July 20, 2018 | Jacqueline Thomsen

President Trump’s advisers were reportedly left outraged by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats’s interview in Aspen, Colo., on Thursday, concerned that his comments hitting Trump over his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin would upset the president.

Trump advisers told The Washington Post that they are concerned the president could view Coats’s remarks as a personal betrayal after Trump publicly praised the official during a Wednesday interview.

“Coats has gone rogue,” one senior White House official told The Post.

Coats said during an interview at the Aspen Security Forum that he would have advised Trump against meeting one-on-one with Putin, and was visibly surprised when told that the White House had invited Putin for a visit this fall.

“OK,” a surprised Coats said about the proposed meeting. “That’s going to be special.”

Some advisers said that Coats appeared to be laughing at the president, according to the Washington Post.

A senior U.S. intelligence official told The Post that the intelligence director and Trump have a good relationship and that the pair speak often.

He also pushed back against aides’ claims that Coats may have been undercutting Trump by saying he was “just doing my job” by issuing a statement rebuking the president’s comments on Russian election interference.

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