US President, Joe Biden has stated that ex-President Donald Trump’s “erratic behavior” should keep him from getting high-level intelligence briefings, given to other ex-presidents.
It’s normal for former presidents to get intelligence briefings. Presidents sometimes seek advice from their predecessors, and believe the briefings are a help.
But whether a former president gets briefings is the prerogative of a current president. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week that the possibility of granting briefings to Trump was “under review.”
Biden speaking at a CBS News interview, said giving Trump briefings will be of no value to government.
Anchor Norah O’Donnell then reminded Biden that he had once called Trump an “existential threat,” “dangerous” and “reckless.”
“Yeah, I have,” Biden said. “And I believe it.”
When O’Donnell asked Biden his greatest fear about providing Trump with briefings, the president answered:
“I’d rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefing. What value is giving an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?”
In 2017, Trump reportedly spilled classified information about ISIS during an Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
News reports then said the information Trump leaked came from a covert Israeli intelligence operation. Trump said he had an “absolute right” to disclose the information, but Israeli government officials were reportedly angry over the leak by Trump.
