Officials told the Washington Post that the briefings began after the November election. His last briefing was in January 2021. The process is customary and one of the earliest parts of the presidential transition process.
“ODNI is acting consistent with the tradition, in place since 1952, of providing intelligence briefings to the President-elect,” an ODNI spokeswoman told the outlet.
According to the Washington Post, Trump was briefed on a regular basis by intelligence officials during his first term, being “engaged” throughout, asking questions, and interacting with visual information.
Trump has a reputation for being lax with classified intelligence, with his possession of classified documents from his first term being the subject of one of four criminal indictments. He retained boxes of classified files in his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving office.
Aside from the indictments, Trump accidentally disclosed classified intelligence on several occasions. In one instance, the classified details of a North Korean ballistic missile launch were seen by the light of a cellphone at a dinner table during a meeting with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago.
On one occasion, Trump disclosed the capabilities of American spy satellites in a social media post mocking the Iranian government for a faulty missile launch.
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“The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran,” he posted, along with a picture of the aftermath. “I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.”
The ODNI briefings are part of the “peaceful and orderly transition” promised by President Joe Biden during the president-elect’s visit to the White House.
