U.S. Intelligence Sharing Fractures Under Trump, Reuters Sources Say

U.S. intelligence on Iran and other global threats has moved more slowly through Congress and the federal government during Donald Trump’s second term, and at times not at all, according to a Reuters exclusive published on Tuesday.

The news agency cited eight current and former officials and people briefed on the matter. Reuters said the disruption had not been reported before.

Former officials and outside experts told Reuters the breakdown risks leaving policymakers with an incomplete picture of threats. They drew a parallel with the intelligence failures exposed after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The timing is sensitive. According to Reuters, the administration is weighing whether to resume strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

CIA Steps Back From the Council

The CIA has stopped co-authoring assessments with the National Intelligence Council (NIC), an analytical body inside the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), officials told Reuters.

That leaves fewer reports combining the intelligence community’s views for decision-makers on subjects including Iran, Reuters said.

The council’s assessments are meant to consolidate the positions of the country’s 18 intelligence agencies. According to Reuters, the NIC relied heavily on the CIA for analysis on Iran and Russia, and lost its main author when the agency withdrew last year.

The CIA kept sharing intelligence with the council and still worked with it on some reports, Reuters said. Its analysts, however, concentrated on their own assessments.

The NIC, which also absorbed staff cuts, has since slowed its output, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Five current and former officials said none of its assessments have focused on the war in Iran.

An ODNI official told Reuters the council has kept assessment levels close to “historic trendlines.”

CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons said the agency “participates fully” in providing intelligence assessments through the ODNI-led Presidential Daily Brief and through the NIC.

Congress Cut Off

Lawmakers and their staffs twice stopped receiving intelligence reports from Tulsi Gabbard’s office for brief periods, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The first pause came in the days after the U.S. military intervention in Iran in June 2025. The second followed the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026.

Gabbard’s team had accused lawmakers of leaking to the press, according to Reuters.

Her office also stopped briefing Congress on election threats in 2025, Reuters said, citing two people familiar with the matter and a former U.S. official. Officials told the agency that Jay Clayton, who became director of national intelligence in August, has resumed those briefings.

In a statement to Reuters, ODNI said Clayton “remains committed to ensuring that ODNI and the intelligence community have the resources they need to continue informing key U.S. government decision-makers and keeping Americans safe.”

Fear of Retaliation

The problems began last year amid deep cuts at national security agencies, including ODNI and the CIA, as Trump moved to remove or sideline officials he viewed as disloyal, Reuters said.

Some analysts who remain avoid writing assessments at odds with White House views for fear of political retaliation, two former officials and a current U.S. official told Reuters. The officials did not say which topics were being avoided.

Julia Curlee, a former CIA analyst who said she was fired from Trump’s National Security Council last year for being transgender, told Reuters: “Analysts still do the work, but this White House has made them irrelevant because the president treats unwelcome information as disloyalty.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters said.

Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, said: “All of these things are adding up in a really complex world where policymakers need to have a more sophisticated, nuanced, and integrated view of the world, and they are getting less.”

A Turf War at the Top

Officials described the CIA-ODNI dispute to Reuters as one of the biggest turf wars in three decades between two of the most important agencies. ODNI was formed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The infighting was triggered when Gabbard’s office revoked the security clearances of current and former intelligence officials a year ago, three former officials told Reuters. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had to step in several times to defuse tensions, they said.

In August 2025, Reuters reported that Gabbard said she had revoked the clearances of 37 current and former intelligence professionals. She accused them of “politicizing and manipulating intelligence” and said she acted at Trump’s direction.

Morgan Muir, a former deputy director of national intelligence in the Biden administration who also briefed President George W. Bush, warned of new barriers between agencies. Hollowing out coordination bodies, he told Reuters, means “you’re creating little lily pads, and then everybody can pick their own lily pad to listen to.”

FBI and the Counterterrorism Center

The FBI stopped sharing some intelligence with the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) for several weeks late last year, two former officials told Reuters.

The pause followed an attempt by the center’s then-head, Joe Kent, and his staff to investigate the shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, according to the officials. FBI leaders told Kent they believed the NCTC was overstepping its authority.

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.

After Gabbard

Tensions between ODNI and the CIA have eased since Gabbard’s resignation in June, but problems rooted in the clash persist, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Gabbard, whose rift with Trump over Iran policy Clash Report covered in June 2025, announced on May 22 that she would step down effective June 30. She cited her husband’s cancer diagnosis in her resignation letter.

Trump nominated Clayton, the Manhattan U.S. attorney and former SEC chairman, on June 11. The Senate confirmed him 51-47 on July 28, and he was sworn in in August as the ninth DNI.

“While Tulsi did not utilize the NIC, DNI Clayton has proven to be a good steward of the IC and recognizes the value of the NIC,” a U.S. official told Reuters.

Separately, some former officials are working on a bipartisan basis at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on plans to rebuild the intelligence community in the next administration, four former U.S. officials told Reuters.

Iran Decision Looms

The Reuters findings arrive as Washington weighs its next move on Iran. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on Feb. 28.

On Oct. 25, Trump said: “There are two very different sets of intelligence reports on Iran. I have them both.” He did not describe the second set, according to Bloomberg.

Axios reported that Netanyahu pressed Trump in a “tough” call on Saturday, Oct. 31, to strike Iran right after the midterms. Trump wanted more time for talks, according to Axios.