Trump Dismisses Intelligence Experts Amid Pivotal Ukraine Negotiations

For decades, U.S. presidents have relied on the expertise of seasoned foreign policy professionals to guide them through complex and high-stakes international negotiations.

President Donald Trump has taken a markedly different approach by dismissing many of these experts.

Currently, as Trump seeks to navigate what may be the most challenging negotiation of his tenure—ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—he is doing so after having significantly dismantled much of the intelligence apparatus designed to keep him informed about Russian President Vladimir Putin and to prevent the United States from being outmaneuvered or misled.

“They are operating blindly without professional expertise,” said Evelyn Farkas, executive director of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. She added that those who were dismissed had comprehensive access to intelligence on Putin’s intentions, including on-the-ground spies and technical intelligence.

Trump has reduced the National Security Council’s staff—an essential group of foreign policy analysts guiding U.S. policy for decades—by more than half. Additionally, he has purged intelligence officials linked tangentially to a nearly decade-long investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

The president has made it clear that he believes his personal relationship with Putin is key to achieving a peace deal over Ukraine, preferring this over relying on a circle of experts he views as part of a “deep state” working against his objectives.