Just when you thought things couldn't get even weirder with Donald Trump's presidency, CBS News is reporting that the 45th president brought a studio audience to his visit with the CIA. According to an official who was present during Trump's visit to CIA headquarters, there were about 40 people who were invited by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's teams.
Another official was quoted saying the visit "made relations with the intelligence community worse." The invited Trump guests were allegedly cheering for the president, which also rubbed the CIA intelligence community the wrong way. Because of the cheering, many assumed that the CIA was cheering for Trump and his address, but authorities confirmed that was not the case. The 40 guests invited by Trump and Pence were stationed in the first few rows among senior CIA workers, who were not cheering for the president at all. Sean Spicer, the White House's press secretary denied that there were any "Trump or White House folks" in the first several rows. Spicer's statement was quickly shot down by an unnamed source who is familiar with the planning behind Trump's CIA visit. CBS' report also noted that there were 400 members of the CIA who RSVP'd for the event out of thousands who had received an invitation via email in the previous week.
Trump's meeting with the CIA was also described as an "uncomfortable" one. The tone of the president's address came off as offensive and resembled some of the speeches he used while campaigning. The purpose of President Trump meeting with the CIA was to show support for the CIA after previously accusing the intelligence community of politically motivated leaks. Despite his desire to repair his relationship with the CIA, Trump's address only focused on the media's coverage of his on-going relationship with the CIA and their observations on the crowd size present at his inauguration.
Source: politicususa.com/CBS
