President Donald Trump appeared to respond to reports from Tuesday’s Senate hearings from top U.S. intelligence officers, insisting “tremendous progress” has been made in destroying the Islamic State, peace negotiations in Afghanistan are going well and the U.S.’ relationship with North Korea has never been better.
Trump’s chief intelligence personnel, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, CIA director Gina Haspel and FBI Director Christopher Wray, were pressed by Senate lawmakers Tuesday during a hearing on the most urgent worldwide threats the U.S. faces.
Several reports issued Tuesday stated the intel chiefs rebuked Trump’s claims on several global issues, including North Korea, Iran and ISIS, and painted a different picture than the president regarding the most urgent global threats.
The chiefs did not mention the southern border as a threat, a concern Trump is weighing declaring a national emergency over.
But Wednesday morning, the president responded on Twitter, touching on ISIS, North Korea and Afghanistan. (RELATED: Trump Says Staffer Who Wrote Tell-All Book Was ‘Nothing More Than A Gofer’)
“When I became President, ISIS was out of control in Syria & running rampant. Since then tremendous progress made, especially over last 5 weeks,” Trump tweeted. “Caliphate will soon be destroyed, unthinkable two years ago.”
Haspel and Coats acknowledged that while ISIS is nearing “territorial defeat” in Iraq and Syria, the terror group is “intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria.”
When I became President, ISIS was out of control in Syria & running rampant. Since then tremendous progress made, especially over last 5 weeks. Caliphate will soon be destroyed, unthinkable two years ago. Negotiating are proceeding well in Afghanistan after 18 years of fighting..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019
Coats also warned North Korea will likely never fully give up its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction because it believes nuclear weapon capabilities to be paramount to regime survival, and Haspel added Pyongyang “is committed to developing a long-range nuclear-armed missile that would pose a direct threat to the United States.”
Trump, who once claimed there was no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea, has been touting in recent weeks the progress made between the U.S. and North Korea on denuclearization.
“North Korea relationship is best it has ever been with U.S. No testing, getting remains, hostages returned,” Trump echoed Wednesday, adding there was a “decent chance for denuclearization.”
….Fighting continues but the people of Afghanistan want peace in this never ending war. We will soon see if talks will be successful? North Korea relationship is best it has ever been with U.S. No testing, getting remains, hostages returned. Decent chance of Denuclearization…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019
The president also said he’s looking forward to seeing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again “shortly.”
Trump’s special envoy for peace in Afghanistan said Monday that American and Taliban officials agreed on the framework of a deal that would result in a withdrawal of U.S. troops in the region in exchange for a pledge from the Taliban that its territory in Afghanistan would not be used by it or other terrorist groups to harm the U.S. or its interests.
Trump acknowledged this progress in the series of Wednesday tweets, saying “[negotiations] are proceeding well in Afghanistan after 18 years of fighting” and “the people of Afghanistan want peace in this never ending war.”
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