The U.S President Donald Trump has said he needs to “rein in” U.S intelligence agencies. It is fuelling fears he needs the nation’s next spy chief to be someone loyal to him. Trump announced that Dan Coats (the current director of national intelligence) would leave his post on 15 August. Coats is a long-time fixture of the Republican intelligence establishment. He has repeatedly clashed with the U.S President during his 2-year-long tenure. Trump will nominate John Ratcliffe (a Trump ally) to replace him. On Tuesday, he informed reporters at the White House, “The congressman is going to do an incredible job if he gets approved by the U.S Senate”. Trump added, “I think we need somebody like that in there. We need somebody strong that can rein it in. Because, as I think you’ve all learned, the intelligence agencies have run amok. They have run amok”.
Coats is a former senator and widely respected in Washington. But he had differences with the president over the Russia investigation. The intelligence chief was of the view that Moscow, which allegedly interfered in the 2016 presidential election, remained a danger to the US, but Trump had a different perspective. They publicly clashed over the president’s rejection to challenge Vladimir Putin over Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S politics during last summer. Coats was later forced to apologize for scoffing when told of the U.S leader’s decision to invite the Russian leader to Washington. The president contradicted any conflict with the official.
Trump claimed, “Coats was a friend. Dan made statements and they were a little confused”. The U.S President has repeatedly attacked the intelligence community during his two-and-a-half years in office. His comments and his nomination of Ratcliffe have fuelled fears that Trump is hoping to consolidate his power and lurch further into authoritarianism. Last week, Ratcliffe drew attention when he defended the president during a hearing in which former special counsel Robert Mueller testified on his 2-year probe into Russia’s election interference.