Author(s): Christopher MORAN, Richard J. ALDRICH
Publication name: Romanian Intelligence Studies Review
Publisher name: Mihai Viteazul National Intelligence Academy
Publication type: Journal article
Publication date: December 31, 2017
Pagination:
Issue/ Volume: 17-18/2017
DOI:
Introduction
“Unproductive”, “disloyal”, “what the hell do those clowns do out there
in Langley”. Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, had some
fairly waspish things to say about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Nearly
50 years later, so too does the latest resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
Donald J. Trump. In the 10 months or so since winning the 2016 presidential
election against his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, the bombastic New
York businessman has called CIA officers “politically motivated” and “sick
people” who peddle “fake news”, and even equated the Agency with Nazi
Germany. In his attitude towards the Agency, Trump is compelling reminiscent
of Nixon, albeit with one big difference: while the latter expressed his feelings
privately in the Oval Office, to be combed over by historians decades later,
Trump – the self-appointed “Ernest Hemingway of a hundred and forty
characters” – has made his animus towards the CIA public knowledge in real
time, thanks largely to a series of early-morning social media tirades.
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