Trump transitions into a tense relationship with intelligence agencies
President-elect Donald Trump's rejection of the CIA's conclusion that Russia attempted to manipulate U.S. elections on his behalf has led to an unusually rocky relationship between the incoming administration and the intelligence establishment, which Trump's team has dismissed as "the same people that said Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction."
"Given [Trump's] proclivity for revenge combined with his notorious thin skin," said Paul Pillar, former deputy director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, "this threatens to result in a lasting relationship of distrust and ill will between the president and the intelligence community."
Trump has also reportedly taken fewer national security briefings than is typical for this point in the transition, though aide Kellyanne Conway says he is "certainly availing himself of the information that is provided to him from a number of sources" and will be amply prepared to take office.