SHAPES AND COLORS

Trump Won’t Read Intelligence Reports but He Enjoys the Pictures, Officials Say

Current and former intelligence officials discussed Trump’s short attention span with the NYT.

President Trump struggles to read U.S. intelligence reports but enjoys the photographs and charts inside them, according to a report from The New York Times. The newspaper spoke to 10 current and ex intel officials said to be familiar with what goes on during Trump’s White House briefings. They said the president has an extraordinarily short attention span and won’t read papers, instead relying on gossip from conservative media and his friends such as former casino tycoon Steve Wynn. Joseph Maguire, the former acting director of national intelligence, reportedly told officials to remember Trump’s reality-TV background and think of him as a performer who is always putting on a show. Although he doesn’t like reading the reports, the newspaper was told that Trump does like to examine graphs, charts and, particularly, satellite photographs. Robert O’Brien, the national security adviser, disputed the characterization of Trump, saying he has a “laser-focused” attention to detail.