During presidential campaigns, candidates are typically briefed by the nation’s security agencies on critical matters they could face if they win the election. However, this week former President Donald Trump announced that he would refuse to take part in these standard intelligence briefings for candidates.
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And the reason is actually quite genius. He explained his decision by expressing concern that Democrats would leak classified information and then attempt to accuse him of being the source of the leaks.
In other words, Trump knew a trap was being set for him.
“I don’t want them, because, number one, I know what’s happening. It’s very easy to see what’s happening,” he told the Daily Mail . “We have an incompetent leader, and we have two incompetent leaders. We have a Marxist that’s going to try and be president, and this country is not ready for a Marxist or a communist president, and that’s what she is. She destroyed San Francisco, she destroyed California, and this country is not ready for it.”
Trump continued, “So, I don’t want the briefings because as soon as I get one, they’ll accuse me of leaking it. The best way to handle that is to avoid the briefing altogether. They come in, give you a briefing, and then two days later, they leak it and blame you.”
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“The only way to solve that problem is not to take the briefing,” he added. “I don’t want it, understood? I’ll have plenty of them when I get back in.”
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Trump made his comments after a major set-piece speech in Asheboro, North Carolina, where he laid out his national security priorities, including demanding the resignations of officials involved in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Intelligence briefings have been given to presidential nominees ever since President Harry Truman introduced them in the early 1950s.
They are designed to prepare candidates for office and ensure a smooth transition of power.
The briefings are conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
And unlike the president’s daily brief, when the commander in chief is caught up on threats to the nation and other developments every morning, these tend to be one-off sessions as matters dictate.
Former presidents are also generally offered the courtesy of briefings to keep them abreast of national security developments.
In 2021, President Biden barred former President Trump from receiving national security briefings, citing Trump’s alleged “erratic behavior.” This decision sparked accusations of a double standard, as other former presidents, including Obama, Clinton, Bush, and Carter, continued to receive such briefings.
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Two years later, the Biden administration falsely charged Trump with mishandling classified documents, though those charges were dismissed last month. Joe Biden was, however, found to have mishandled classified information, but was essentially let off the hook because Special Counsel Robert Hur believed that Biden would come across as an old man with a bad memory, and a conviction would thus be unlikely.