Let's talk about Trump’s continued war on data and intelligence....

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Belle of the Ranch 3 min 1 speaker 5 chapters transcribed 1 month ago

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What is the background of Trump’s conflict with the Defense Intelligence Agency?

Belle of the Ranch 0:01

Well, howdy there internet people it spell again. So today we're going to talk about Trump's continued war on data. The Secretary of Defense reportedly fired Lieutenant General Jeffrey Cruz. He was the head of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency and was expected to serve until twenty twenty seven. The public statement so far is simply that General Cruz will no longer serve as DIA director. Congressional sources say he was shown the door because of a lack of confidence. That's a catch all term for a superior wanted him gone. But we don't have a good reason we want to make public. So

Why was Lieutenant General Jeffrey Cruz removed as DIA director?

Belle of the Ranch 0:45

What on earth could have made Trump want to boot the intelligence chief? Maybe where on earth is a better way to phrase it. Remember when Trump made all those bizarre statements about obliterating Iran's nuclear program? Only to have intelligence reports surface and say he was wrong. Yeah. So guess which agency wrote the first intelligence report that called Trump out on his exaggeration? Yep. DIA Maybe that's what's behind it.

How did intelligence reports contradict Trump’s statements about Iran’s nuclear program?

Belle of the Ranch 1:15

Once the report became public, Hegseth began doing damage control for Trump. Who had repeatedly claimed the operation had completely destroyed or obliterated Iran's nuclear program. At the time he said quote It was preliminary, a day and a half after the actual strike, when it admits itself in writing that it requires weeks to accumulate the necessary data to make such an assessment. That's quite the defense of Trump's statement. It requires weeks to gather the data to make the assessment. That leaves an obvious question. If it takes weeks, then where did Trump's assessment that it was obliterated come from? Before taking over at DIA, Cruz served as a director of intelligence for US Indo Pacific Command.

What does the episode say about Trump’s pattern of rejecting data that challenges his views?

Belle of the Ranch 2:07

And before that, as Director of Intelligence for Joint Task Force Operation, Inherent Resolve. I feel like he might be better at making preliminary battlefield damage assessments than say a real estate developer. But the general committed what is becoming a cardinal sin in the new Trump administration. Delivering data that contradicts Trump's preconceived notions or public statements. It's worth noting that DIA's early preliminary assessment lines up far closer to recent assessments than Trump's claims of total obliteration. Which have been said to be false by literally every report. This is likely to shape up like Trump's firing of the BLS commissioner. Over what Trump said were inaccurate preliminary reports.

Belle of the Ranch 2:59

Trump's pick for a replacement commissioner reportedly wanted to suspend the preliminary reports completely.

How might Trump’s war on data affect future U.S. intelligence and policy decisions?

Belle of the Ranch 3:07

Turns out early estimates of the job creation rates in a country with a population of three hundred and forty million people is like super hard. Especially when the entire economic sector is watching. Much like crime rates in DC or producer inflation, Trump doesn't want data that contradicts him. This kind of data skewing has never turned out well for a country. Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

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