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Trump’s Staff Reportedly Only Gives Him Daily Intelligence That Won’t Upset Him

Donald Trump.
Good news only. Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

With Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer out of the White House, it’s uncertain if the current administration is still injecting positive press about Trump straight into his veins twice a day to keep him alive and well. His current staff, however, is reportedly delivering the president a specialized daily briefing to keep him happy, the Washington Post reports.

Every day, Trump receives a “president’s daily brief” — or PDB, if you’re savvy — that is intended to inform him of any intelligence updates. A briefer will orally discuss the report, which is written by senior-level, career intelligence officers, according to a spokesman for the office of the Director of National Intelligence. The briefer will also give the president a written copy.

In theory, it should be pretty straightforward. According to current and former officials, though, Trump’s staff can’t just deliver him the briefing as is. Presumably afraid of the president’s temper, his briefers reportedly avoid orally discussing anything that might make him unhappy.

“If you talk about Russia, meddling, interference — that takes the PDB off the rails,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told the Post, so it’s unclear how much Trump actually knows about the Russia investigation.

If he must be informed of key intelligence, as he is the president of the United States, a former senior intelligence official told the Post that the briefer won’t orally discuss the sensitive matter, and will instead let the president read about it by himself in the written report (if he reads it?). Trump’s main briefer will also deliberately move any potentially upsetting news to a place in the report they believe will “soften the impact.”

Perhaps the intelligence officers should consider including flattering photos of the president in the briefings to keep a smile on his face.

Trump Staff Only Gives Him Intelligence That Won’t Upset Him