FOREIGN POLICY/INTELLIGENCE/MEDIA/SAUDI ARABIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Since journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared earlier this month, President Donald Trump has acted like his own world-class spies and hackers don’t exist. The U.S. intelligence community is reportedly increasingly convinced that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is culpable in Khashoggi’s killing. Publicly, though, Trump has evinced no knowledge of the state of any investigation into the incident. For some intelligence veterans and foreign policy specialists, it’s a pattern that has become all too familiar — and troubling. Trump started his presidency by publicly quibbling with an intelligence report that strongly concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered a massive hacking campaign on the 2016 presidential election. More recently, he dissembled when pressed about reports that his own intelligence agencies believe North Korea is still working on its nuclear program: ‘Well, nobody really knows,’ he said Sunday on ’60 Minutes.’ ‘I mean, people are saying that. I’ve actually said that.’ Such proclamations of ignorance on major intelligence-related issues are not unusual for Trump, despite the fact that senior officials insist he is attentive and engaged during his daily intelligence briefing. For many who work in espionage and national security, it’s yet another signal that after nearly two years in office, the commander in chief is still unwilling or unable to trust his own intelligence apparatus.”
–Martin Matishak, “Trump’s professed ignorance on Khashoggi belies world-class intelligence team,” Politico, October 18, 2018 6:50 pm