Trump has sat for only 12 ‘daily’ intelligence briefings since taking office

[DaisyDay]

Sooner or later the lack of diligence - not to mention competence - across the whole upper tier of this administration is going to cause real damage to the country.

Sooner or later? I don't even know if most the damage already done can be reversed.

They seem to treat governing as merely an ideological project.

That and a super good opportunity to grift. $TRUMP anyone?

 

[DaisyDay]

Quite simply, intel briefings don't mean a thing to Trump. So why even have them?

Are you kidding? Have you seen his cabinet bow and grovel before him while singing his praise and deriding his predecessor? That soothes his soul.

 

[Say it aint so]

Are you kidding? Have you seen his cabinet bow and grovel before him while singing his praise and deriding his predecessor? That soothes his soul.

They literally run "Dear Leader" ads on television paid by the tax payers with cabinet members thanking Trump.

It is just bone chilling bizarre.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Quite simply, intel briefings don't mean a thing to Trump. So why even have them?

And the next time aircraft fly into buildings it will clearly be Biden's fault.

 

[Larniavc]

If the president doesn't know about what's happening in Outer East Bananastan he's less likely to start a war there. A little information is dangerous. No information has kept us out of lots of trouble.

You're saying keeping information from him to prevent him reacting to that information is a GOOD thing? I thought he was your guy?

 

[chevyontheriver]

But perhaps the leader of Inner West Bananastan is looking at Outer East Bananastan with envy, and has decided he wants to "annex" them. Perhaps there is a diplomatic solution that, if he knew about it, the President could use to prevent that war from starting.

Hypothetically, maybe.

Instead, since the President is not informed about the situation and, suddenly, the US is involved when Outer East Bananastan calls on the US to uphold treaty obligations to help them.

Should we have treaty obligations with every Outer East Bananastan? Just wondering?

Or, to use a real world example, maybe he could have prevented what is happening with India and Pakistan?

Apparently Trump WAS involved in getting a cease-fire between India and Pakistan. And has no known knowledge of what is happening in Outer East Bananastan.

 

[chevyontheriver]

You're saying keeping information from him to prevent him reacting to that information is a GOOD thing? I thought he was your guy?

He never was 'my guy'. I never voted for him. That the Democrats had such abysmal candidates in 2016, 2020, and 2024, that I was unable to vote for them either just means they were not my guys either.

You have presumed that because I didn't like your guys that Trump was 'my guy'. Not by a long shot. You know not everybody that disagrees with you is a Nazi. It's quite likely that you have gone a little bit overboard in who you have been calling a Nazi. Here's where you can say you 'never called anyone a Nazi' and I can chuckle.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Wouldn't that by definition make him rational?

In his own mind, sure. Every raving lunatic thinks he is rational in his own mind.

I don't think the issue is Trump's rationality. I think it is rather about what he bothers to care about, his personally corrupt motivations, his general lack of knowledge and competence, his sycophantic advisors, and his attention span.

So, you are saying he is rational. OK.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Why waste the time of a brief when Elon or Vladimir can just tell you the important parts.

 

[Hans Blaster]

In his own mind, sure. Every raving lunatic thinks he is rational in his own mind.

So, you are saying he is rational. OK.

I don't see Trump as particularly irrational. That doesn't seem to be his major malfunction.

 

[durangodawood]

I don't see Trump as particularly irrational. That doesn't seem to be his major malfunction.

Optimizing for self interest absolutely requires reasoning. But it helps when there's no competing values like honesty or decency that might add pesky variables to the equation.

 

[stevil]

Quite simply, intel briefings don't mean a thing to Trump. So why even have them?

Why would the most intelligent man alive, with a bigly brain and a memory the likes never seen before (of which people are saying), oh, by the way the 2020 election was stolen and it's very unfair the way he is being treated by the fake, failing media probably bought by the radical left socialist Democrats, this person with the amazing brain, why would he need "intelligence" information from people dumber than him, if he listened to them, wouldn't that just make him dumber? He needs to protect the integrity of his very bigly brain, the likes of which has never been seen before (they are all saying it), by not listening to these so called "experts" and their mis-information. BTW, the 2020 election was stolen, lots of fraud, terrible, they are eating the cats and dogs don't you know, and poisoning the blood. It's just terrible, the bad bits of the economy are Biden's economy, the good bits are Trump's economy, everyone is saying it!!!.

 

[stevil]

Optimizing for self interest absolutely requires reasoning. But it helps when there's no competing values like honesty or decency that might add pesky variables to the equation.

I find that in almost any situation, when given a choice of acting and speaking gracefully vs disgracefully, Trump consistently chooses disgrace. He is consistent, I'll give him that.

 

[SimplyMe]

Hypothetically, maybe.

Should we have treaty obligations with every Outer East Bananastan? Just wondering?

Whether we should have a treaty or not is another conversation but we should honor our valid treaties with other countries.

Apparently Trump WAS involved in getting a cease-fire between India and Pakistan. And has no known knowledge of what is happening in Outer East Bananastan.

Great, but he did it only after fighting had started. Again, if he had been up to date on intelligence, he would have had a chance at stopping the fighting before it began.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Great, but he did it only after fighting had started. Again, if he had been up to date on intelligence, he would have had a chance at stopping the fighting before it began.

We aren't the policeman of the world, as you might wish. For that matter not the social worker of the world.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

We aren't the policeman of the world, as you might wish. For that matter not the social worker of the world.

And yet, I have been paid by the United States Government by both Republican and Democrat administrations to be just that since 1989. And I don't recall being alone during the time.

 

[SimplyMe]

We aren't the policeman of the world, as you might wish. For that matter not the social worker of the world.

I never stated we were. At the same time, we do have an interest in preventing all out war involving two nuclear powers.

 

[Larniavc]

He never was 'my guy'. I never voted for him. That the Democrats had such abysmal candidates in 2016, 2020, and 2024, that I was unable to vote for them either just means they were not my guys either.

You have presumed that because I didn't like your guys that Trump was 'my guy'. Not by a long shot. You know not everybody that disagrees with you is a Nazi. It's quite likely that you have gone a little bit overboard in who you have been calling a Nazi. Here's where you can say you 'never called anyone a Nazi' and I can chuckle.

My apologies. But to be fair I did not call you a Nazi.

But your point is well taken.

 

[Always in His Presence]

This document is delivered in hard copy or on a tablet device to the president and his key advisers five days a week.

What do advisors do?

Think about what our President has accomplished:

1. Hostages released from Hamas -
2. Shipping lanes re opened and the threat from terrorist
3. A peace plan being negotiated in Ukraine
4. The Southern Border closed
5. He is currently in Saudi Arabia - one of our greatest military allies in the Middle East

That's just off the top of my head. Everyone of those includes information found in these briefings. Just because he doesn't sit for a meeting doesn't mean that he does not get the information.

 

[Bradskii]

1. Hostages released from Hamas -

You got the last one only this week. 18 months after it all started.

1. Shipping lanes re opened and the threat from terrorist

Certainly took his time. Luckily we all knew about the recent US action thanks to Hegseth.

1. A peace plan being negotiated in Ukraine

I thought that was going to be fixed before the inauguration? So that's a fail.

1. The Southern Border closed

Guess that wall was a waste of time. Mexico will be so pleased they won't have to pay for it. Aren't you embarrassed by Trump lying to you so often about it?

1. He is currently in Saudi Arabia - one of our greatest military allies in the Middle East

He's not the only one there: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/13/politics/trump-middle-east-business-invs

'In recent years, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS, invested $2 billion in a private equity firm launched by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner and MBS developed a close personal relationship when Kushner served as an adviser to Trump during his first term.'

Shall we discuss Qatar?

That's just off the top of my head.

Which strangely enough is where he seems to get most of his ideas from. Straight off the top of his head, that is. Not yours (a new plane you say? Yes, why not?)