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Trump Expected to Name Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence Trump Names Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence
(30 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump was expected to name Richard Grenell, the American ambassador to Germany, to be the acting director of national intelligence, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday named Richard Grenell, a vocal loyalist who quickly antagonized the German establishment as the American ambassador there, to be the acting director of national intelligence overseeing the nation’s 17 spy agencies.
Mr. Grenell, whose outspokenness throughout his career as a political operative and then as ambassador has prompted criticism, is a vocal Trump loyalist who will lead a group of national security agencies often viewed skeptically by the White House. By choosing Mr. Grenell, who has little experience in intelligence or in running a large bureaucracy, the president signaled that he wants a trusted, aggressive leader atop an intelligence community that he has long viewed with suspicion and at times gone to war against.
He would take over from Joseph Maguire, who has served as the acting director of national intelligence since the resignation last summer of Dan Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana. Mr. Grenell, who has pushed to advance gay rights in his current post, would apparently also be the first openly gay cabinet member. Mr. Grenell’s at times biting outspokenness has been a hallmark of a long career in Republican politics and as a spokesman at the United Nations for the former ambassador John R. Bolton. Mr. Grenell stirred controversy in Europe by intervening in domestic political affairs, attacking what he called “failed” open-border policies in Germany and criticizing Germany’s stances on Iran, military spending and Chinese investment in global telephone networks.
Mr. Grenell did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a White House spokesman. The people familiar with the move cautioned that the president had a history of changing his mind on personnel decisions after they were revealed in the news media. Now, overseeing the intelligence agencies, Mr. Grenell will choose which spy reports and analyses are sent to the White House and which urgent threats to inform the president and congressional leaders about. While intelligence directors have tried to serve as neutral arbiters of facts, Mr. Grenell’s experience as an ideological advocate prompted some former officials to express concern that he could color the intelligence he presents to Mr. Trump.
Under American law, Mr. Maguire had to give up his temporary role before March 12. He could return to his old job as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, but he might choose to step down from government. “This is a job requiring leadership, management, substance and secrecy,” said John Sipher, a former C.I.A. officer. “He doesn’t have the kind of background and experience we would expect for such a critical position.”
Mr. Trump can choose any Senate-confirmed official to replace Mr. Maguire as the acting head of the nation’s 17 intelligence agencies. Republican senators had privately pushed the administration to nominate a national security professional for the post, and advisers made clear that the president was not nominating Mr. Grenell for the permanent job. Mr. Trump has installed acting leaders in other top government vacancies, giving him freedom to maneuver around the demands of Senate confirmation.
Mr. Maguire, a retired admiral, became the acting director in August just as a whistle-blower inside the C.I.A. filed a complaint about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Mr. Grenell, who has pushed to advance gay rights in his current post, is apparently also the first openly gay cabinet member.
Since the acquittal of Mr. Trump in the Senate impeachment trial, the White House has been pushing to remove officials seen as disloyal or holding views contrary to the White House, looking for replacements who are more likely to follow the president’s wishes. While it has never been clear how Mr. Trump viewed Mr. Maguire, there is little doubt that the president would like a partisan fighter in the post before any public testimony before Congress. By law, the current acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, has to give up his temporary role before March 12. Mr. Grenell is expected to begin his new job on Thursday. He is also expected to keep his current ambassadorship simultaneous with the new role, one administration official said.
Mr. Grenell has long been a strong voice on Twitter, posting about the dangers of Huawei, the Chinese company building next-generation telecommunications networks around the globe; the failure of European allies to spend enough on their military and other issues. He is one of the administration’s loudest critics of Huawei, pressuring Germany not to do business with the firm. Mr. Grenell has long been ambitious and has been anxious for a promotion from his diplomatic post. He was in contention to be national security adviser, a post that ultimately went to Robert C. O’Brien. Mr. Grenell did not respond to a request for comment.
But Mr. Grenell is also a polarizing figure and his confirmation by the Senate is not assured, one reason the president intends to name him acting director, rather than formally nominating him for the job. A number of Republican senators have privately pushed the administration to nominate a national security professional or politician who is seen as a less divisive figure. Mr. Trump can choose any Senate-confirmed official to replace Mr. Maguire, who has served as the acting director of national intelligence since the resignation last summer of Dan Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana. Mr. Grenell was confirmed by the Senate for his current job after a delay caused by parliamentary tactics that stirred a bipartisan outcry.
Since the beginning of his administration, Mr. Trump has viewed the intelligence agencies skeptically. He would be the latest in a line of intelligence directors who have had varied policy experience including diplomatic or military backgrounds rather than stints in the intelligence world.
He has at times disparaged American intelligence agencies because he did not agree with their findings, such as the conclusion that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election in an effort to help Mr. Trump win. He told his intelligence chiefs to “go back to school” after they offered assessments on Iran and North Korea at odds with his policy initiatives. But Mr. Grenell is also an acerbic combatant who throws regular punches at “fake news” reporters and Mr. Trump’s opponents online. Last month, he angrily demanded The Washington Post retract a report, which he insisted was based on fabricated sources, that Mr. Trump had threatened to impose auto tariffs on European cars if European leaders did not adopt a tougher line on Iran’s nuclear program. The next day, Germany’s defense minister publicly confirmed the report.
Mr. Grenell honed his combative style when he worked for Mr. Bolton. Often to the surprise — and sometimes the horror — of the State Department’s more staid communications officials who worked for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Grenell would take on reporters and argue long into the night about stories appearing in major newspapers and on television.
Mr. Grenell’s bare-knuckled approach clearly resonates with the president and his inner circle. Last spring, shortly before the now-infamous removal of Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., invoked Mr. Grenell in a tweet about conservative discontent with Ms. Yovanovitch. “We need more @RichardGrenell’s and less of these jokers as ambassadors,” the younger Mr. Trump wrote.
In recent days, after Attorney General William P. Barr said in an interview that Mr. Trump’s tweets make his job more difficult, Mr. Grenell appeared on Fox News to counter that view. “It makes my job so much easier,” Mr. Grenell said, offering the example of Mr. Trump’s pressure on NATO allies to spend more on defense.
As ambassador to Germany, Mr. Grenell made public statements that some German officials took as expressing opposition to the current government in Berlin, the kind of intervention into domestic affairs that diplomats typically avoid. Mr. Grenell has repeatedly attacked the refugee policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel. His style put off other officials and ultimately isolated him, the German publication Der Spiegel reported last year. “The powerful avoid him,” the newsmagazine wrote. “Doors have been shut.”
In Germany, much of Mr. Grenell’s criticism has been directed at German military spending, its decision to stand behind the nuclear deal with Iran, and its wavering on the American demand to ban Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, from building next-generation mobile networks.
He has also had successes, including getting Germany to agree to take American liquefied natural gas and pull the landing rights of an Iranian airline. A number of German companies have pulled out of Iran, warned by Mr. Grenell that they could run afoul of American sanctions if they did business with Tehran.
And while German military spending has continued to rise during the Trump administration, the government in Berlin has ratcheted back its goals for increasing spending.
While most of the previous directors of national intelligence have tried to take a nonpartisan tone, Mr. Trump has looked askance at officials who have tried to remain apolitical, or neutral experts. He increasingly has looked to people for positions who he believes share his views.
“Grenell, from the beginning, was an ultra-right-wing sniper on social media,” said Douglas H. Wise, a former senior intelligence official. “He is certainly in line with the Trump agenda.”
Intelligence professionals reacted with surprise, and some with disappointment, questioning Mr. Grenell’s experience and temperament. The appointment demonstrated that Mr. Trump little understands or values the intelligence community, said Nicholas J. Rasmussen, the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center.
“Personal loyalty is prized above relevant experience and demonstrated competence,” said Mr. Rasmussen, now the acting executive director of the McCain Institute. “Professionalism and integrity are devalued. The signal this sends to our career national security and intelligence professionals is unmistakable.”
While it has never been clear how Mr. Trump viewed Mr. Maguire, there is little doubt that the president would prefer a partisan fighter in the post. Mr. Maguire, a retired admiral, became the acting director in August just as a whistle-blower inside the C.I.A. filed a complaint about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
Since even before the acquittal of Mr. Trump in the Senate impeachment trial, the president has been pushing to remove officials seen as disloyal to or undermining of the president or holding views contrary to the White House, looking for replacements who are more likely to follow the president’s wishes.
The president has at times disparaged American intelligence agencies because he did not agree with their findings, perhaps chiefly the conclusion that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election to help Mr. Trump win. He told his intelligence chiefs to “go back to school” after they offered assessments on Iran and North Korea at odds with his policy initiatives.
Anxious to avoid a repeat of that hearing, Mr. Maguire’s aides initially pushed for this year’s public hearing to be canceled, a request that lawmakers have rejected.Anxious to avoid a repeat of that hearing, Mr. Maguire’s aides initially pushed for this year’s public hearing to be canceled, a request that lawmakers have rejected.
Tensions between the White House and intelligence agencies only grew during the impeachment inquiry. Mr. Maguire initially blocked the whistle-blower complaint from being forwarded to Congress, following the guidance of administration lawyers. But he eventually helped broker the agreement to provide the complaint to Congress’s intelligence committees, allowing the impeachment inquiry to gain steam.Tensions between the White House and intelligence agencies only grew during the impeachment inquiry. Mr. Maguire initially blocked the whistle-blower complaint from being forwarded to Congress, following the guidance of administration lawyers. But he eventually helped broker the agreement to provide the complaint to Congress’s intelligence committees, allowing the impeachment inquiry to gain steam.
Mr. Coats announced his resignation in July, effective Aug. 15. Including acting directors, nine people have served as head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since the job was created in late 2004 to improve the nation’s ability to fight terrorism. That law made the director of national intelligence the top intelligence adviser to the president. When Mr. Coats announced his resignation in July, Mr. Trump initially nominated a Republican ally in Congress, Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas, to be the next top intelligence chief, a job considered to be among the most nonpartisan in Washington. But Mr. Trump quickly dropped those plans after pushback from Democrats and some key Republicans who worried Mr. Ratcliffe’s loyalty to the president and lack of intelligence experience would make him nearly impossible to confirm. There were also concerns that Mr. Ratcliffe exaggerated some of what he included on his résumé.
When Mr. Coats announced his resignation, Mr. Trump initially nominated one of his loyalists, Representative John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, to be the next top intelligence chief, a job considered to be among the most nonpartisan in Washington. But Mr. Trump quickly dropped those plans after pushback from Democrats and some key Republicans who worried Mr. Ratcliffe’s loyalty to the president and lack of intelligence experience would make him nearly impossible to confirm. There were also concerns that Mr. Ratcliffe exaggerated some of what he included on his résumé.
During his tenure, Mr. Coats was unafraid to defend his employees and push back against some of the president’s claims that contradicted the intelligence agencies. He told intelligence officers in a speech that it was their duty to seek the truth about the world, “and when we find that truth, to speak the truth.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept. 11 attacks to oversee the government’s vast network of 17 spy agencies and to ensure critical national security information was being shared across the government.
At the beginning of the Trump administration, Mike Pompeo, then the C.I.A. director, was the most prominent voice on intelligence matters. When Mr. Pompeo moved to the State Department, his successor, Gina Haspel, took a much less prominent role.
Ms. Haspel’s reluctance to speak publicly thrust Mr. Coats into the public spotlight. His criticism of Mr. Trump and warnings about Russian interference in the election, drew the ire of the White House.
After Mr. Ratcliffe was dropped from consideration, Mr. Trump promised to announce a new nominee soon. But the list of people with the requisite experience who have not been critical of the president is slim.After Mr. Ratcliffe was dropped from consideration, Mr. Trump promised to announce a new nominee soon. But the list of people with the requisite experience who have not been critical of the president is slim.
The administration considered, and discarded, a number of potential nominees including Pete Hoekstra, the American ambassador to the Netherlands and a former Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Representative Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican on the committee.The administration considered, and discarded, a number of potential nominees including Pete Hoekstra, the American ambassador to the Netherlands and a former Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Representative Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican on the committee.
Julian E. Barnes reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York. David E. Sanger and Michael Crowley contributed reporting from Washington.