NEW: A look into Trump’s intelligence briefings led by Beth Sanner. @adamgoldmanNYT and I report. nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/…
Trump has said a Jan 23 intel briefing by Sanner played down the virus, a statement backed up by the ODNI.
The Jan 23 briefing was the first intel on coronavirus to go directly to Trump, and intelligence officials do say their initial warnings were not sharp enough. But Trump had many other warnings from health experts, national security officials, biodefense specialists.
Trump never reads the compendium of intelligence reports created for him each day, the President’s daily brief. That makes Sanner’s briefings critical.
Trump is hard to brief. He goes off on tangents. He brings up inaccurate statistics. He leans on arguments his friends have used with him. He does not absorb information that goes against his world view.
“How do you know?” is Mr. Trump’s common refrain during the briefings. He counters with his own statistics on issues where he has strong views, like trade or NATO. Directly challenging him, even when his numbers are wrong, appears to erode Mr. Trump’s trust
But getting Mr. Trump to remember information, even if he seems to be listening, can be all but impossible, especially if it runs counter to his worldview, former officials said.
hen Ms. Sanner started in April 2017, she tried a new approach. She gives Mr. Trump an agenda to try to keep him on track and deploys a more analytical style than her predecessor.
If Mr. Trump diverges onto irrelevant topics, she will let him talk before interrupting to confidently ask to move on, said people who have seen Ms. Sanner brief the president.
Sanner focuses on subjects that interest Trump, like economics and world leaders (particularly those with an authoritarian bent). Topics like Russian interference that can trigger the president, Sanner mixes with election threats from other countries.
Sanner has proven adept at using sarcasm and fearlessness to keep him relatively on topic. Trump's criticism of her—though not by name—seemed misplaced to some former officials. Read more: nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/…
