Ex-CIA chief: Trump ‘unstable, inept, inexperienced, and also unethical’
Former CIA chief John Brennan on Friday predicted “rough waters ahead,” particularly on international issues, saying President Trump is “unstable, inept, inexperienced, and also unethical.”
In an interview with MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” Brennan told host Nicolle Wallace that the president was “ill prepared” to take on the duties of commander in chief, particularly growing military aggression from Russia and North Korea.
“It is no secret to anybody that Donald Trump was very ill prepared and unexperienced in terms of dealing with matters that a head of state needs to deal with, head of government, and I think this is now coming to roost,” Brennan said.
{mosads}
“Our country needs to have confidence that we’re going to be able to deal with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, who is flexing his muscles once again on the military front, that we can deal with North Korea, that we can deal with these issues. And if we have somebody in the Oval Office who is unstable, inept, inexperienced, and also unethical — we really have rough waters ahead.”
The former CIA chief under President Obama went on to hit Trump for tweeting at actor Alec Baldwin over his “Saturday Night Live” impression of the president rather than responding to Putin, who announced the previous day the development of missiles he claimed would render defense systems “useless.”
“When I hear what Vladimir Putin was saying just yesterday about the nuclear capabilities he has, the president of the United States is tweeting about Alec Baldwin this morning, I mean, where is your sense of priorities?” Brennan asked.
“I think a lot of Americans are looking at what’s happening with a sense of — this is surreal.”
The Russian leader told lawmakers this week that new intercontinental ballistic missiles developed by the country could reach almost any target in the world.
“I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country’s development … you have failed to contain Russia,” he said.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed Putin’s comments in a statement to CNN.
“President Putin has confirmed what the United States government has known all along, which Russia has denied. Russia has been developing destabilizing weapons systems for over a decade, in direct violation of its treaty obligations.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.