Trump calls intelligence officials ‘passive, naive’

Washington, Jan 31 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has lashed out at the country's intelligence agencies, accusing their officials of being "passive and naive" about the dangers posed by Iran, while defending his handling of Afghanistan, North Korea and the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

A day after the agencies issued the annual "Worldwide Threat Assessment", warning of malefactors like China and the IS, Trump on Wednesday reignited a feud with his own government, reports The New York Times.

"Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!" he said in a series of tweets.

"The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!"

The assessment was presented during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday by the National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and the Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel.

In his tweets on Wednesday, Trump said negotiations with the Taliban to wind down the war in Afghanistan were "proceeding well".

He said the relationship with North Korea was the "best it has ever been with US. No testing, getting remains, hostages returned. Decent chance of denuclearization".

Under his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, Trump said, the "relationship was horrendous and very bad things were about to happen".

In response to Trump's tweets, Democrat Representative and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam B. Schiff said it was dangerous for the President to dismiss the findings of his own intelligence agencies.

"If you're going to ignore that information, then you're going to make poor decisions," Schiff said, adding, "it means the country is fundamentally less safe".