Headline Roundup • November 13th, 2024
Trump Appoints Former Director of Intelligence John Ratcliffe as CIA Director
Summary from the AllSides News Team
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will appoint John Ratcliffe, his former director of national intelligence (DNI), to serve as CIA director in his second administration.
For Context: Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman, served as DNI in Trump’s first administration from May 26, 2020, to the end of Trump’s term on January 20, 2021. Ratcliffe previously expressed skepticism over investigations that linked Trump to Russia, and also questioned the legitimacy of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which was endorsed by many other intelligence officials.
Key Quote: Trump said, “John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” and praised him for “exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation.”
How the Media Covered It: The Hill (Center bias) wrote, “Ratcliffe was a regular critic of the FBI and Justice Department before entering the intelligence community.” Reuters (Center bias) highlighted him as a critic of the Biden administration's Middle East policy, and a “China hawk.” Israeli outlet Haaretz (Lean Left bias) also framed its story through Ratcliffe’s criticisms of Biden on Israel. CNN (Lean Left bias) reported perspectives from intelligence community members who were relieved by Trump’s selection. Fox News (Right bias) framed included context on Ratcliffe’s defense of Trump during the impeachment brought against him.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Demczuk/Pool/Getty Images
Inside the US intelligence community, a deep wariness about a second Trump administration has set in, stoked by memories of the antagonistic relationship the nation’s spy agencies had with Donald Trump the last time he was president.
But when news broke Tuesday evening that Trump had selected as his CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the former director of national intelligence, some career officials were cautiously optimistic, seeing Ratcliffe as a largely professional and potentially less disruptive choice than some other former officials believed to have been under consideration.
“As good as it was...
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had picked John Ratcliffe, a close ally who was director of national intelligence at the end of his first term, to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Ratcliffe served as the nation's top spy from late May 2020 until Trump left office in January 2021. More recently, he was co-chair of the Center for American Security, a think tank advocating Trump positions, and advised the former Republican president on national security policy during his 2024 campaign.
"I look forward to John being the first...
Getty Images
John Ratcliffe, who served as President-elect Trump's principal intelligence advisor during his first presidential term, has been picked to serve as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency during Trump's second term.
Ratcliffe is one of several appointees announced in the past week who will fill key positions during Trump's second term.
"From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBI’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public," Trump said...
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