Your account has been succesfully created.

EN FR

The Morning Brief
Log in

Password

Keep me logged in

Forgot your password?
Subscribe

Spotlight | United States
Inside the body that'll help Trump shape his intelligence policy

US President Donald Trump. © Bonnie Cash - Pool via CNP/picture alliance / Consolidated News Photos/Newscom/MaxPPP

For his President's Intelligence Advisory Board, Donald Trump has chosen a raft of individuals more notable for their loyalty to the new administration than for their experience in the field or in national security. [...]

Published on 26/02/2025 at 05:00 GMT Reading time 3 minutes Raphaël Ramos

This article may be accessed by subscribers

In order to ensure high-quality and independent journalism, Intelligence Online relies solely on subscriptions from its readers, with no advertising, no events and no consulting work.

Several offers are available depending on your particular reading needs

Consult our offers

Do you want a free trial before subscribing?

Create your free account

Discover our work by making use of the following possibilities: daily newsletters, a selection of free articles, keyword alerts.

Do you want a free trial before subscribing?

create a free account

The Agencies' Gazette
US health intelligence, French intel report, China-Japan rivalry, Tracfin

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community.

United StatesRobert Kennedy Jr looking to boost health ministry's intel

FranceParliamentary intelligence delegation report published in Q1 of 2026

ChinaRethinking Ryukyu: Beijing ropes in academics to push archipelago's independence

FranceTracfin interested in humint

Subscribers only 15.12.2025

United States
US immigration and border forces draw closer to intelligence community

As their missions and workforce expand, US federal agencies at the forefront of the fight against illegal immigration are expected to benefit from a mobility programme for intelligence analysts.

Subscribers only Agencies 26.11.2025

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

United States
Tulsi Gabbard recruits Kennedy clan's spy

Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, a former CIA officer who became campaign manager for her stepfather Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is now responsible for modernising the US intelligence community.

Subscribers only Agencies 27.08.2025

The US Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard.

United States
Challenges ahead for future White House cyber chief

A former top Republican Party official with no experience in the area is to take on the key role of US cyber policy coordinator. His appointment comes with most agencies being hit with budget cuts and upheaval, causing jitters in Washington.

Subscribers only Defence 19.06.2025

Sean Cairncross is US President Donald Trump's nominee for White House National Cyber Director (NCD).

Spotlight | United States
US Congress readies for cartels battle

With the Trump administration determined to aggressively combat drug trafficking, Congress is also stepping up with a new specialised task force. Its role will be to serve as a forum for ideas, but also as a lobby faced with an executive branch that is encroaching on lawmakers' prerogatives.

Subscribers only Defence 28.04.2025

Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw is fine-tuning the composition of the new parliamentary task force to combat Mexican drug cartels.

Spotlight | United States
Gabbard's very political staff at ODNI

The US national intelligence director has begun staffing her office with people who share her worldview and willingness to follow the White House rhetoric. This is despite the fact that, more than two months after taking up its duties, the ODNI is still in its transitional phase.

Subscribers only Agencies 10.04.2025

Tulsi Gabbard, at the annual hearings held in Congress at the end of March.

Spotlight | Europe, United States
CIA sends placatory mission to Europe

As Europe strives to adapt to Donald Trump's about-turns, the US foreign intelligence agency has sent some of its officers on a tour of European capitals to strengthen ties with their counterparts while their chiefs hold parallel meetings.

Subscribers only Agencies 19.03.2025

CIA Director John Ratcliffe (L) and US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on 4 March 2025.

United States
Intelligence chiefs to present much-awaited annual threat assessment to Congress

President Donald Trump and intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard's stances on Russia and other foreign policy issues lend this year's annual threat assessment report and associated hearings a particular resonance, especially in view of their commitment to 'depoliticising' intelligence.

Subscribers only Agencies 17.03.2025

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on 12 February 2025.

Spotlight | United States
Disillusion sets in at Marco Rubio's State Department

Abrupt changes made by Donald Trump in US foreign policy and federal institutions have hit US diplomacy hard. Adding salt to the wound is the fact that the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the country's top diplomat who was initially seen as a stable element, seems to be entirely aligned with the president.

Subscribers only Back-door diplomacy 10.03.2025

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, 26 February 2025.

Spotlight | United States
CIA reshuffle also shakes up communication practices

Under John Ratcliffe, the US foreign intelligence agency has taken to communicating much more directly in line with the White House, breaking with the US intelligence community's traditional tight-lipped approach.

Subscribers only Agencies 05.03.2025

CIA director John Ratcliffe during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on 26 February 2025.

United States
Former CIA officials band together in the ‘Steady State' to oppose Trump purges

Wary of the consequences of taking positions in the media, former US intelligence officials have adopted a more low-key strategy. Not just to carry more weight, but also to protect themselves from reprisals.

Subscribers only Agencies 17.02.2025

US President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during an inauguration parade on 20 January 2025 in Washington, DC.

France, United States
French foreign intel wants say on insider stories

France's DGSE foreign intelligence service wants to enshrine in law a provision allowing it to review before publication any book written by former officers or contractors. That system has already been tried and tested - and also decried - in the United States.

Subscribers only Operations 30.01.2025