Intel briefing

Intel briefing is a dish which tastes better when it's served by trustworthy chef.

Commentary: Mr. Trump, here’s what other presidents learned from the CIA

Presidential transitions are perilous times. One tradition of creating continuity is for commanders-in-chief in waiting to be briefed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Some presidents-elect can’t get enough of the top-secret stuff. Some half-listen as they gear up in great haste to take office.

Until now, none has disdained the secret briefs, denigrated the CIA, and declared, in the words of Donald J. Trump, “I’m, like, a smart person” – declining to hear almost everything and anything the spies have to say.

This willful ignorance has no real precedent. It may well be that Trump really doesn’t want to know about Russia’s hacking the 2016 election, an epochal event that he doesn’t believe actually happened. He may think he that he doesn’t need to know more about North Korea’s nukes, Syria’s army and the fall of Aleppo, or the correlation of forces in the Middle East. He may spend the next five weeks – or the next four years – saying, in effect, my mind’s made up, don’t confuse me with facts.