Trump celebrates CIA anniversary with video bashing media
President Trump wished the Central Intelligence Agency a happy 70th birthday on Monday with a tweet showing him castigating the press and insisting he has a good relationship with the intelligence community.
"Happy 70th birthday @CIA!" Mr. Trump tweeted Monday morning. The tweet included a video showing excerpts at the president's speech at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
The January speech marked Mr. Trump's first official visit to a government agency as president. Mr. Trump, speaking in front of a wall memorializing the CIA agents who have died in the line of duty, used the opportunity to bash journalists and praise the agency.
"So I can only say that I am with you a thousand percent and the reason you're my first stop, is that as you know I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth," Mr. Trump said in his speech, which is included in the video clip. "And they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community and I just want to let you know, the reason you're the number one stop, it is exactly the opposite."
Happy 70th Birthday @CIA! pic.twitter.com/CU3gOZMf7J
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2017
The CIA is one of several U.S. intelligence agencies that believe there was Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mr. Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on those findings, saying repeatedly that the investigation into that alleged interference is now more than a "witch hunt" targeting his administration.
CBS News' Jeff Pegues reported at the time that the visit only exacerbated problems in the relationship between the CIA and the Trump White House. A CIA official told Pegues that the "uncomfortable" visit "made relations with the intelligence community worse."
In the video accompanying Mr. Trump's tweet, his criticism of journalists can be heard provoking cheers from the crowd. CIA officials, however, said that many of the people doing the cheering were not agency employees, as many there to watch the speech were Trump supporters invited by the administration.
The CIA's senior leadership, which did not include now-director Mike Pompeo, who had not yet been confirmed, did not cheer Mr. Trump.
However, then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer pushed back on this assessment from CIA officials, insisting at the time that "there were no Trump or White House folks sitting down. They were all CIA."