I don’t have the energy to write anything at the moment so this will be brief and I may revisit it tomorrow. I think Donald Trump’s trip to the CIA today was extremely unfortunate and incredibly dumb. Setting up in front of the wall where clandestine officials who have died in the line of duty are anonymously memorialized was a very, very bad mistake. It shouldn’t be difficult to find examples of CIA officers talking about that wall in hushed and reverent tones. It’s the CIA’s Arlington Cemetery. It’s not a spot for a photo op.
What Trump had to say is almost immaterial, but it did make matters much, much worse.
I could go into that in detail, but I won’t tonight.
He also appeared on a Saturday when the regular work force is not there and those who are there are expected to monitor things, not sit around in the lobby listening to a speech.
Trump has made an enemy of the CIA, and he’s made it personal. He came in there needing to apologize for calling them Nazis and he just poured gasoline on the fire in so many ways.
That’s just not a good idea.
