Obama hits Trump on intel briefings: ‘It doesn’t matter how smart you are’
President Obama in an interview late Monday stressed the importance of daily intelligence briefings after President-elect Donald Trump pushed back against criticism that he receives the briefings only once a week.
“It doesn’t matter how smart you are,” Obama said on “The Daily Show” with Trevor Noah. “You have to have the best information possible to make the best decisions possible.”
Obama acknowledged the country’s intelligence agencies are “not perfect.”
{mosads}”But they are full of extraordinarily hardworking, patriotic and knowledgeable experts,” he said.
“And if you’re not getting their perspective, their detailed perspective, then you are flying blind.”
A report published last week said the president-elect averages only one presidential intelligence briefing a week — a number far lower than his predecessors.
In an interview that on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump pushed back against criticism, saying, “I get it when I need it.”
“First of all, these are very good people that are giving me the briefings. And I say, ‘If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on one minute’s notice.'”
During the interview, the president-elect also suggested it isn’t necessary for him to receive the briefings daily.
“I’m, like, a smart person,” Trump said.
“I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years — could be eight years — but eight years. I don’t need that.”
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