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Trump signed an order reversing Presidential Policy Directive 20
that had mapped out an elaborate interagency process before the
United States engaged in cyberattacks, the Journal said, citing
people familiar with the action.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request
for comment.
Although the policy directive signed by former President Barack
Obama was classified, its contents were made public when it was
leaked in 2013 by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden,
the Journal said.
It was not clear what rules the Trump administration was
adopting to replace the Obama-era policy, the Journal said. It
said while a number of current U.S. officials confirmed the
directive had been reversed, they declined to comment further,
citing the classified nature of the process.
One administration official briefed on the decision described it
as an "offensive step forward" intended to help support military
operations, deter foreign election influence and thwart
intellectual property theft by meeting such threats with a more
forceful response, the Journal said.
National security adviser John Bolton began the effort to remove
the directive after he took up his position in April, the
official told the Journal.
Critics of the Obama-era policy have seen it as preventing a
quick and forceful response to cyberattacks by involving too
many federal agencies in the planning.
(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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