Thread by @jseldin

RECAP: @POTUS visits US intelligence community, @ODNIgov

"The main reason I came, & I mean this sincerely, is to say thank you"

"You're the eyes and ears around the world & the front lines of our national defense" @POTUS tells US intelligence community

"You serve the American people no matter which political party holds power in Congress or the White House" per @POTUS

"It's so vital, so vital that you are & should be totally free of any political pressure or partisan interference" adds @POTUS "It's basic"

'll never politicize the work you do. You have my word on that"

"Just give it to me straight" per @POTUS tells the IC

"Even if the news is hard, even if the news is bad, I can't make the decisions I need to make if I'm not getting the best unvarnished unbiased judgments you can give me"

"I just had an interesting meeting as you all know with my very close friend Vladimir Putin" per @POTUS, to some laughs

"He knows that you're better than his team & it bothers the hell out of him. Not a joke"

re #Putin #Russia

"We have the best folks in the world" per @POTUS "Our greatest strength, in fact, is our diversity"

"It's just a fact"

US will "need to make sure we're positioning ourselves to stay ahead of the security challenges that will stretch the IC in new ways it's never been stretched before" per @POTUS, citing #cyber

"I can't guarantee this...but I think it's more likely if we end up in a war, a real shooting war when a major power it's going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence" per @POTUS "It's increasingly exponentially"

More #Russia - #Putin: "He has a real problem" per @POTUS "He's sitting on top of an economy that has nuclear weapons & oil wells & nothing else"

"He knows he's in real trouble, which makes him even more dangerous in my view"

#China - Xi Jinping: "He is deadly earnest about becoming the most powerful military force in the world, as well as the largest & most prominent economy in the world by the mid 2040s" per @POTUS

"We better figure out how we're going to keep pace without exacerbating, moving us in a position where we increase the hostilities unnecessarily" per @POTUS

"We also need to take on the rapid disinformation is making it harder & harder for people access to assess the facts, be able to make decisions" per @POTUS

#Russia-#Election2022

"In today's PDB you all prepared for me, look what #Russia is doing already about the 2022 elections & misinformation" warns @POTUS

"It's a pure violation of our sovereignty" he adds, without sharing more detail

"It's especially important to work closely w/our partners & allies to maintain our technological edge, shore-up supply chains, to ensure that the rules that govern technology support democracies not autocracies" per @POTUS

"At the same time, we have to work in cooperation w/ nations like #China & #Russia that are competitors, & and possibly mortal competitors down the road" per @POTUS, citing #climate change "There's certain things that our mutual interest..."

More #Russia, #China:

"I had a come to Jesus meeting, an altar call w/Mr. Putin about what he thinks is what Russia's property is in the #Arctic" per @POTUS "China looking very closely at that as well"

#HavanaSyndrome: "We're taking the cases of anomalous health incidences that are affecting intelligence officers, gvt officials & their families very seriously" per @POTUS

"My administration is coordinating a government-wide effort to respond..."

#Bioweapons - "What's going to happen as we move on & we're able to develop around the world pathogens that can be transmitted to societies & communities?" asks @POTUS

"Just think about what's happened w/one...more people have been killed in the United States of America because of #COVID than every single major war we fought combined" per @POTUS - emphasizing "I'm not suggesting it was intended"

"You're going to find you're going to have to increase your ranks w/ppl w/significant scientific capacity relative to pathogens" per @POTUS at @ODNIgov