President Barack Obama expressed optimism Thursday that the tension between Donald Trump and the intelligence community will subside once the president-elect is briefed on Russia’s hacking Friday.
“My hope is that when the president-elect receives his own briefings and is able to examine the intelligence as his team is put together and they see how professional and effective these agencies are, that some of those current tensions will be reduced,” Obama told NBC 5 Chicago’s Carol Marin in an interview at the White House.
Trump has repeatedly denied the consensus among the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies that the Kremlin conducted cyberattacks against the U.S. during the presidential election, taking particular exception to reports that the CIA, FBI and Office of Direction of National Intelligence all agree that Russia launched its attacks with the aim of boosting Trump into the White House.
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