Former U.S. intelligence officials warned that President Donald Trump's governing style is becoming like that of a dictator.
On the 9th, according to the Financial Times (FT), Paul Kolbe, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) station chief, said, "There is a relatively common way in which dictators seize and exercise power," and noted, "It overlaps with what is happening in the United States now."
Concerns were also raised about a "cult of personality" around President Trump. Gail Helt, who handled China and Taiwan issues at another intelligence agency, mentioned issuing a $250 bill featuring President Trump's face to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, then pointed out, "Even China's Mao Zedong did not put his own face directly on currency."
Kolbe is a member of "Steady State," a group of former intelligence officials formed in 2016 out of concern about the spread of authoritarianism in the United States. The group has raised its voice, saying President Trump is damaging checks and balances on the executive branch and is threatening U.S. democracy and the environment for corporations.
FT analyzed that former intelligence officials who had worked in the shadows speaking out publicly shows a growing sense of concern about President Trump within U.S. intelligence agencies.
Julia Curley, a former CIA analyst, pointed out, "The problem is that if everyone says nothing, we end up in the situation we are in now."
In response to the criticism from former intelligence officers, Davis Ingle of the White House Spokesperson's Office said, "President Trump is restoring democracy by taking power out of the hands of unelected bureaucrats and returning it to the American people."