Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump watches a video screen at a campaign rally at the Salem Civic Center, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Salem, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has long viewed the nation’s spy services with suspicion, accusing them of trying to undermine his first term and campaigns. Now that he’s returning to the White House, Trump’s promises to overhaul the U.S. intelligence agencies put him on a collision course with one of most secretive and powerful parts of government.
Trump announced Tuesday that he is nominating John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA. A former Republican congressman from Texas, Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence for the final months of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.
FILE – Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, testifies before a hearing April 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Ratcliffe is a more traditional pick for the position, which requires Senate confirmation, than some rumored loyalists pushed by some of Trump’s supporters.
For the CIA and other intelligence agencies, the start of Trump’s second administration is a way to reset an often challenging relationship with a leader who has in the past dismissed them as the deepest of the deep state — Trump’s label for the thousands of career federal employees that carry out the work of government regardless of who is president.
