Trump Slammed Obama for 'Skipping Briefings'

2014 attack was based on dubious report
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 12, 2016 1:27 AM CST
Updated Dec 12, 2016 5:53 AM CST
Trump Slammed Obama for 'Skipping Briefings'
In this Jan. 24, 2014, photo, Donald Trump speaks in Des Moines, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Donald Trump says he doesn't need daily intelligence briefings because he's a "smart person," but it wasn't that long ago that he criticized President Obama for supposedly skipping briefings, NBC News reports. "Fact--Obama does not read his intelligence briefings nor does he get briefed in person by the CIA or DOD. Too busy I guess!" Trump tweeted in Sept. 2014 after what NBC describes as a "dubious report" from a conservative group claimed Obama had only attended 42% of his daily briefings over the previous five years. The claim came from the Government Accountability Institute, a group set up by Breitbart co-founder Steve Bannon, now Trump's chief White House strategist.

At the time, Breitbart accused Obama of showing a "lack of engagement and interest," but the Washington Post rated the claim that Obama skipped more than half his daily intelligence briefings as "bogus," noting that it was based only on the White House's public schedule—and that many of the "skipped" meetings had never been scheduled to start with. The Post noted that Obama tended to read the President's Daily Brief prepared by intelligence agencies instead of having an in-person briefing before morning national security meetings. Both Bushes preferred daily oral briefings, while Ronald Reagan eschewed them almost entirely. (Intelligence officials say Trump has a lot of catching up to do.)

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