rant · moment 16 of 31
CIA Factions and John Ratcliffe
from Trump's Cabinet | The Tim Dillon Show #417 · #417
3 min
Tim discusses John Ratcliffe as CIA pick, arguing the intelligence community has long-embedded anti-Trump factions from the Obama/Clinton era who may covertly work against the new administration, joking that people either become elite actors or CIA operatives.
- The CIA hates Trump and doesn't want presidents conducting their own foreign policy; they prefer to manipulate them instead.
- CIA agents never actually leave the agency—once a spook, always a spook, like the mafia.
- Tim finds the assassination attempt suspicious and jokes about using new slang because he's genuinely 19 years old.
- John Ratcliffe was declared the nation's top spy in May 2020, eight months before Trump left office.
- The CIA has tentacles into different industries; it's a well-established fact that the intelligence community is incredibly powerful.
- Different factions exist within intelligence agencies—some pro-Trump, some anti-Trump, some interventionist, some isolationist.
- The overwhelming majority of senior intel people dislike Trump and aren't rejoicing about his election; many are Obama and Clinton appointees.
- Trump's potential purge of disloyal intelligence officials raises the question of whether they'll actively work against his administration despite outward loyalty.
- These intelligence people are very good at skulduggery and treachery—it's what drives them.
- Your career path is essentially either becoming a high-level actor or joining the CIA.
Donald TrumpCIAJohn Brennanintelligence agenciesAllen DullesFBINSAJames ClapperJohn RatcliffeBarack Obama