Former President Donald Trump turned down intelligence briefings in his role as the Republican nominee for president, the DailyMail.com reported Thursday.
"I don't want them, because, number one, I know what's happening. It's very easy to see what's happening," Trump told the news outlet.
It has been standard practice for presidential nominees to receive intelligence briefings from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence after securing a nomination. The practice initiated with former President Harry Truman in the 1950s with the aim of better preparing the candidates for a smooth transition of power in case they are elected.
"So, I don't want that, because as soon as I get that, they'll say that I leaked it," Trump told DailyMail.com, adding, "So they best way to handle that situation is, I don't need that briefing. They come in, they give you a briefing, and then two days later, they leak it, and then they say you leaked it.
"I'll have plenty of them when I get in."
President Joe Biden in 2021 said that he had banned Trump from receiving intelligence briefings as has been traditionally offered to former presidents as a courtesy. Biden cited Trump's "erratic behavior" as his reason for keeping his predecessor out of the loop.
"I just think there's no need for him to have intelligence briefings," Biden said then.
Trump has had a delicate and at times contentious relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies even before becoming president. Trump has long accused the FBI of spying on his 2016 presidential campaign, and it was revealed that former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and agent Peter Strzok exchanged text messages saying they would "stop" Trump from becoming president.
Trump had his Mar-a-Lago estate raided in 2022 by the FBI to retrieve classified documents the Department of Justice claimed Trump did not have the authority to possess. Biden was later to revealed to have kept classified documents as well from his time as a senator.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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