The announced retirement of Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats leaves America, and the West more generally, without a single trustworthy administration figure on national security.
President Trump has said he intends to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to replace Coats. Ratcliffe is a Trump loyalist who was all too eager to carry his water in the Robert Mueller hearing. Among other Trump initiatives, Ratcliffe cheered the Muslim ban, which did nothing to improve national security while perpetuating the administration’s disregard for the far more deadly brand of terrorism in the homeland in recent years perpetrated by white nationalists.