WASHINGTON, May 21, 2018 — The last time President Donald Trump spoke at the Langley, Virginia headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, he attacked the press and bragged about his election victory. This time, he threw shade at his predecessor and praised the House Intelligence Committee Chairman who has sought to obtain the name of a CIA operative.
As Trump opened his remarks introducing the agency’s incoming director, Gina Haspel, he thanked a number of administration officials in attendance as well as Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., before thanking Nunes, who he called “a very courageous man.”
Nunes is one of several Republicans seeking to force the Department of Justice to reveal the name of an informant who has worked with both the CIA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the past.
While the informant’s name has been reported in numerous media outlets, Justice Department and intelligence officials have pushed back against the request, which they say would set a dangerous precedent.
As Trump introduced Haspel, he told the audience of CIA employees that her time as the agency’s first female director comes “at a crucial moment in our history.”
“We are reasserting American strength and American confidence. And, by the way, America is respected again,” Trump said. “You see that.”
“Instead of apologizing for our nation, we are standing up for our nation, and we are standing up for the men and women who protect our nation,” Trump added, taking a dig at his predecessor, Barack Obama.
After Obama took office in 2009, Republicans derided his efforts to repair overseas relationships strained by George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq as an “apology tour.”
The “apology tour” trope became such a common feature of Republican rhetoric during Obama’s first term that his 2012 Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, called his campaign manifesto “No Apologies.”