President-elect Donald Trump has had only two intelligence briefings since he won the election over two weeks ago, intelligence sources told NBC News Wednesday — a much lower number than his predecessors and lower even than Vice President-elect Mike Pence.
A senior intelligence official cautioned that it is too early to know what the significance of Trump’s sparse briefing schedule really is, given that he is in the middle of his transition process.
But the news, first reported by the Washington Post, will likely fuel critics who’ve questioned Trump’s knowledge of foreign affairs and national security issues.
While a team of intelligence analysts remains ready and waiting to deliver briefings to the president-elect, sources told NBC News he has accepted them only twice. Instead, Trump has turned the briefings down to focus on meetings with potential Cabinet members, media executives and business associates.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence, on the other hand, has received the briefings nearly every day, the sources said.
The President’s Daily Brief is a document that includes top-secret information and are meant to provide presidents-elect with an overview of security developments and the workings of the U.S. intelligence community and defense apparatus.
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