Misquoted....

Trump claims his intel chiefs were 'misquoted' when they publicly broke with him

By MATTHEW CHOI

President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that his top intelligence officials were "misquoted" and "taken out of context" when they publicly broke with some of his core foreign policy views during congressional testimony earlier this week.

CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Tuesday shared assessments that were at odds with Trump's talking points on sensitive issues such as North Korea and ISIS, prompting Trump to lash out at his intelligence officials, calling them "naive" and that they should "go back to school."

When asked by reporters Thursday morning if he still has confidence in Haspel and Coats to give him good advice, Trump replied: "No. I disagree with certain things that they said. I think I'm right. Time will prove me right, probably."

But later Thursday afternoon, after meeting with Haspel and Coats in the Oval Office, Trump struck a different tone. He argued the comments were taken out of context — though a full report and recordings are publicly available — and that his intelligence team actually agrees with his world view.

Asked if he talked to his intelligence team about his displeasure with their testimony, Trump said he did.

"They said they were totally misquoted and they were totally — it was taken out of context," Trump told reporters. "So what I do, I suggested you call them. They said it was fake news."

Trump then followed up on Twitter.

"Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media - and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc. Their testimony was distorted press," Trump wrote. "I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!"

During the hearing Tuesday, Haspel and Coats testified that North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons, Iran is largely in compliance with the nuclear deal Trump abandoned and ISIS remains a formidable threat in the Middle East.

In the past, Trump has touted his thawing rapport with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, as a sign that he has made significant headway in denuclearizing the peninsula — a feat he has suggested could beeline him to the Nobel Peace Prize. The president also withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal brokered under the Obama administration, unleashing new sanctions on Iran and denouncing the deal for allowing the country to stockpile nuclear weapons. He has also declared victory over ISIS and announced a removal of U.S. troops from Syria, prompting consternation from both sides of the aisle.

Trump initially chafed at the divergences from his foreign policy talking points, writing in a tweet on Wednesday: "Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"

Trump has set a precedent for publicly denouncing his own intelligence community. Trump also broke away from his intelligence officers during a Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last summer, when he demurred from U.S. findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and sided with Putin's word that Russia was uninvolved. Trump's comments in Helsinki were met with fierce criticism from both parties as kowtowing to a foreign adversary.

"That's how a press conference sounds when an Asset stands next to his Handler," former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele tweeted at the time.