Former US intel official says Trump would often push back in briefings

Know your audience. Sometimes you have to break it down "barney style".

So, the president would "push back" in intel briefings. Oh no, how can we have this! He is challenging the experts! Below are some of the comments/questions from the article she (Gordon) said Trump would say/ask. These are the questions and statement I would expect someone responsible for the outcomes of the things we do in the world to ask. The arrogance of people like Gordon to think her "intel" brief should be swallowed with zero pushback or questions. Then, the second excerpt undoes her concern about someone/anyone questioning the intel.

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Speaking to the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, Gordon said Trump had two frequent responses during briefings, CNN reported. "The one is 'I'm not sure I believe that,'" Gordon said, according to CNN. "And the other is the second-order and third-order effects. 'Why is that true? Why are we there? Why is this what you believe? Why do we do that?' Those sorts of things."

"Remember, intelligence is fundamentally a craft of uncertainty and of possibility, so that doesn't put you off. It's trying to catch up to how you adjudicate the sources that led him to believe that and how you respond to it," she said.

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Intelligence is a business of uncertainly and possibility. Asking tough questions or making stark challenges is what should be happening. The group think in the intelligence community can be a dangerous thing.

Thanks for the share. Sounds like he is not one to believe something simply because an "expert" said it, he needs to understand the "whys" and "wherefores."