Washington: US President Joe Biden has said his predecessor Donald Trump should not be given access to classified intelligence briefings, as is tradition for past presidents, because of his ‘erratic behaviour’.
Former American presidents are frequently given routine intelligence briefings and access to classified materials after they leave office.
“I’d rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” Biden said in an interview on “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell”.
The interview is scheduled to be aired Sunday. Excerpts of the interview were released Friday.
Early this week, the White House said it is reviewing if Trump should receive the intelligence briefings.
Biden said that Trump should not have such briefings “because of his erratic behaviour unrelated to the insurrection.”
He said that Trump represents an “existential threat” and “dangerous.”
In remarks following the January 6 insurrection in the US Capitol by pro-Trump supporters, Biden told reporters, “I’ve been saying for now, well, over a year, (Trump’s) not fit to serve. He’s one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday said that “the intelligence community supports requests for intelligence briefings by former presidents and will review any incoming requests, as they always have,” CNN reported.
During his presidency, Trump was not known to fully or regularly read the President’s Daily Brief, the highly classified summary of the nation’s secrets. Rather, he was orally briefed two or three times a week by his intelligence officials, the report said.
The US intelligence community would review any requests for intelligence briefings from Trump, in keeping with normal practice, it said.
PTI
