Coats had been getting on Trump’s loyalty-obsessed nerves for a long time
Coats off. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats has resigned from the Trump administration, President Trump announced on Saturday. The president will nominate Represenative John Ratcliffe , a Trump loyalist who has repeatedly sought to discredit to Russia investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller, to take Coats’s place — meaning a very public skeptic of the U.S. intelligence community may soon be put in charge of it.
Coats, one of the only cabinet members to publicly contradict the president’s false claims regarding national security issues like the Russia investigation, is, by the New York Times’ count, the 53rd Trump official to resign, be forced out, or fired during the president’s time in office — a record turnover rate that underlines the perpetual dysfunction of the Trump White House. The move also reflects Trump’s love of the shady flexibility in sticking with “acting” agency heads.
Earlier this month, Axios reported that Trump had been actively looking to replace/oust Coats since at least February, and that the president wanted to do away with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence entirely, but would instead try to downsize the office after being advised that it wouldn’t be politically feasible to eliminate it.
Coats, an establishment Republican who has served in the House, Senate, and George W. Bush administration , has been getting on Trump’s loyalty-obsessed nerves for a long time. In July of last year, Coats issued a rebuttal to the president’s assertion that he believed Russian president Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence officials when Putin said that Russia had not been meddling in U.S. elections.
Coats survived another year instead, and had more flare-ups with his intelligence-hating boss. Most notably, in January, Coats disputed Trump’s assertions that ISIS had been defeated and that North Korea had embraced denuclearization , and he has continued to sound the warning about the active efforts of Russia and other countries to meddle in U.S. elections.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Dan Coats Stepping Down as Intelligence Director, Will Be Replaced by Trump Loyalist Rep. John RatcliffeHe and the president had been butting heads, with the president choosing to believe what he heard on Fox News rather than believe the intelligence community’s assessments
Read more »
Dan Coats quits as U.S. intelligence chief, Trump announces\r\nDirector of National Intelligence Dan Coats stepped down Sunday after more than two years of repeatedly clashing with President Trump on key national security claims. Trump tweeted his decision to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to replace Coats.
Read more »
Trump names Rep. John Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligenceBreaking: President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that he was nominating Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to be the director of national intelligence, replacing Dan Coats, who will leave the position on Aug. 15.
Read more »
Jeffrey Epstein’s Finally Being Publicly Shamed — Could Trump Be Next?Jeffrey Epstein’s finally being publicly shamed — could Trump be next?
Read more »
Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, expected to step downDirector of National Intelligence Dan Coats is expected to step down in the coming days, the New York Times reports
Read more »