Trump reverses course

US President Donald Trump reversed course Thursday, claiming he and the American intelligence community are “in agreement” after branding them “naive” and in need of schooling the day before. He now alleges testimony by the country’s top spies had been “distorted” by journalists -- one of his favorite targets.

“Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media - and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc.,” Trump tweeted. “I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday,” he added.

On that day, before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the nation’s top intelligence chiefs contradicted some of Trump’s most fundamental foreign policy claims. In the hearing about global threats, the country’s senior spies took issue with Trump’s assertion that the Islamic State jihadist group has been defeated, and that North Korea can be convinced to forego its nuclear weapons.

Th y also challenged Trump’s claim that Tehran is actively seeking nuclear weapons. And they underscored again that Russia meddled deeply on Trump’s behalf in the 2016 presidential election -- which he has repeatedly denied -- and can be expected to do the same in 2020.