According to The Washington Post, President Trump is unhappy with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and some people fear the president is on the verge of firing him.
The president has never seen Coats as a close or trusted adviser, the people said, but he has become more frustrated with him in recent weeks over public statements that Trump sees as undercutting his policy goals, particularly with respect to reaching a disarmament agreement with North Korea.
The people familiar with the matter ... did not believe that Coats would be fired immediately but said that Trump is considering removing him. They also noted that Trump sometimes grows angry with officials but stops short of dismissing them.
Trump is still “enraged” about Coats’s congressional testimony on national security threats last month, believing that the director undercut the president’s authority when he shared intelligence assessments about Iran, North Korea and the Islamic State that are at odds with many of Trump’s public statements, said one adviser who spoke with the president over the weekend.
Trump had seemed to put the episode behind him and claimed shortly after the hearing that Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel told him they’d been “misquoted” in their comments at the televised hearing.
But privately, the president has continued to fume, and this weekend he told the adviser that Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana, is “not loyal” and “he’s not on the team.”
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In venting his anger at Coats, the president was following a familiar pattern that precedes his dismissal of Cabinet officials. Trump often grouses about disloyalty with the understanding that his interlocutors will speak to reporters, thereby putting the offending official on notice that their days are numbered.
The president is denying he has a problem with Coats.
In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Trump said he was not thinking about removing Coats.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Trump said.
Still, members of Congress are concerned and weighing in with public praise for the DNI.
“DNI Dan Coats is a good friend, former Senate colleague, and leader of integrity who has always served our country well,” [Senator Susan] Collins (R-ME) said. “We are fortunate to have a person of his ability and candor to lead our intelligence community.”
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“When a president — any president — denigrates or ignores factual information presented by the intelligence community . . . he or she is sending a message to the intelligence community: ‘Don’t tell me things I don’t want to hear,’ ” [Senator Angus] King (I-ME) said.
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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a tweet that Coats “has been doing an outstanding job.”
“He speaks truth to power and gives policymakers the best intelligence possible,” Schiff said. “He is loyal to the country and constitution, and that is as it should be.”
Rep. Susan Brooks, who like Coats is a Republican from Indiana, said in a statement it would be “very worrisome” if Trump removed Coats “due to differences of opinion regarding national security matters.”
“Coats has earned an exemplary record as a public servant with a significant focus on national security,” Brooks said. “I trust his expertise to make decisions in order to keep our country safe.”
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Last year, during an onstage interview at the annual Aspen Security Forum, Coats expressed surprise when he was told Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited to Washington. He also said he would have advised Trump against speaking one-on-one with Putin during their summit in Helsinki.
Trump grows frustrated with Coats, leading some to fear he might be fired (WaPo)
Members of Congress voice alarm about report that Trump has grown frustrated with Coats (WaPo)