Trump pushes back against U.S. spy chiefs on North Korea, Islamic State

[January 30, 2019]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday pushed back against threat assessments offered to Congress by the nation's top intelligence officials a day earlier and defended his more optimistic assertions on North Korea and Islamic State.

President Donald Trump speaks to the news media about a deal to end the partial government shutdown in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Young

In a series of early-morning posts on Twitter, Trump said the Islamic State "will soon be destroyed," and that there was a "decent chance of denuclearization" with Pyongyang. On Tuesday, the intelligence officials broke with Trump in their assessments of the threats posed by North Korea and other nations.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats joined the heads of the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies on Tuesday to deliver their annual assessments of the most critical threats facing the United States in a public briefing with U.S. senators.

Coats said North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons, while Trump has said the country no longer poses a threat. Trump plans a second meeting next month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

On Islamic State, Coats said the militant group would continue to pursue attacks from Syria and Iraq against regional and Western adversaries, including the United States.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Alison Williams and Jeffrey Benkoe)

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