U.S. Intelligence Director Says He Meant No Disrespect To Trump
U.S. intelligence chief Dan Coats apologized on Saturday for his seemingly uncomfortable public reaction to news that President Donald Trump was planning a second face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, blaming the press for 'mischaracterizing' his response.
At the Aspen Forum earlier this week, Coats told an audience that he was unaware what Trump and Putin discussed at last week's summit in Helsinki. At that very moment, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced via Twitter that the president had begun laying the groundwork to invite his Russian counterpart to the White House in the fall.
Coats' real-time reaction to the news drew a laugh from the crowd, and reverberated across social media and network news channels. "Say that again?" he asked at the time.
"Okay," he said after a pause. "That's gonna be special."
