It may only be a matter of time before President Donald Trump considers firing the Director of National Intelligence, Daniel Coats. His deep antipathy is said to be based on what the former believed to be an act of disloyalty to him displayed by the latter.
This was revealed by a White House anonymous source who explained to The Washington Post that the President thinks that Coats went beyond his authority by giving testimony in Congress which did not reflect the former's stand on the matters concerning North Korea, the Islamic State militant organization (ISIS) as well as Iran.
This was back in January, but the source went on to say that, although it may have appeared that President Trump had gotten past the perceived slight, the president has privately criticized the Director for being "not loyal" and made reference to Coats not being on-board the Trump team.
Another source revealed that the relationship between President Trump and Coats had not been a smooth sailing one. Trump has also reportedly made negative references to public statements the Director of National Intelligence have made regarding an invitation the former extended to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. With this, Coats getting fired by the former is only a matter of time, the source believed.
Trump has denied in public that he is considering the move. But officials in the White House are beginning to seriously consider the possibility that the Director of National Intelligence may soon be dismissed from his post. This is also based on the President's venting over the holiday weekend, going over Coat's contradiction of him three weeks ago at Congress, despite the appearance that he was over it.
While everyone had believed President Trump had traversed beyond what transpired, his actions speak loudly as he renews gripes about Coats, just as the North Korea summit is nearing. It was suggested by a senior official that the President has been concerned Coats' testimony on North Korea being unable to let go of its nuclear weapons may negatively affect the outcome of the second North Korean summit.
A friend of President Trump, Chris Ruddy, who was present at the aforementioned holiday weekend, confirmed with Christiane Amanpour of CNN Monday that there exists "general disappointment of the President with Director Coats."
