Trump picks former Senator Coats as national intelligence director

World
Europe

US President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will nominate former Senator Dan Coats to be the next director of national intelligence.

"I'm very confident that Senator Dan Coats is the right choice to serve as director of national intelligence," Trump said in statement, adding that the former Indiana lawmaker has "clearly demonstrated the deep subject matter expertise and sound judgment required to lead our intelligence community."

The announcement came amid a rift between Trump and the US intelligence community over Moscow's alleged interference in the US presidential election last year.

Key US intelligence agencies released a report on Friday, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering "an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election" in order to "undermine public faith in the US democratic process."

Trump has repeatedly refused to accept allegations that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election. The Russian government has also denied the accusations.

Coats, 73, served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and was a member of the chamber's Armed Services Committee during his time in Congress. He was also the US ambassador to Germany under former President George W. Bush.

Senator Daniel Coats, a Republican who represented Indiana in Congress, speaks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, US, on Wednesday, November 30, 2016. /CFP Photo‍

"If confirmed as director of national intelligence, he will provide unwavering leadership that the entire intelligence community can respect, and will spearhead my administration's ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm," Trump said.

The announcement for the top intelligence post comes a day after Trump met with chiefs of intelligence agencies - including current Director of National Intelligence James Clapper - in New York to be briefed on alleged Russia cyber-attacks against the US.

Following the meeting, Trump said the alleged hacking activities had no impact on the election result and that he didn't directly acknowledge Moscow's responsibility.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that that "only 'stupid' people" do not want a good relationship with Russia, adding that the US has "enough problems around the world."

"When I am President, Russia will respect us far more than they do now and both countries will, perhaps, work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!" he tweeted.

(Source: Xinhua)