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James Clapper

President Donald Trump, left, and China’s President Xi Jinping arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, located next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan on October 30, 2025. Trump and Xi have both been publicly impassive about cyber operations in the past few months.(Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

While White House demands deterrence, Trump shrugs

Trump’s dismissive remarks on cyber threats contrast sharply with his administration’s official calls for action.
trump putin hacking
Sen. John McCain greets Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Oct. 3, 2017. McCain was one of several prominent officials to criticize the president following his meeting with Vladimir Putin. (DoD Photo)

Trump’s refusal to call out Russian hacking provokes swift, sharp backlash

President Trump refused to acknowledge or condemn Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election today, drawing sharp criticism from former intelligence officials and lawmakers stateside.
Clapper, shown here at an event in September, said it wasn’t the intelligence community’s place to comment on whether attempting to sway an election amounts to an act of war. (LBJ Library / Flickr)

Spy agencies: We can’t judge impact of hacking on election

"They did not change any vote tallies or anything of that sort," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee…
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