Our live coverage has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how the day unfolded.
Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, accused President Trump of assembling an “enemies list” of critics through his efforts to strip a half-dozen national security officials of their security clearances.
Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of several former national security officials who have been publicly critical of him, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced at today’s press briefing.
“As I listen to this, it sounds to me like Donald Trump is talking about building an enemies list,” Wyden said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”
The term “enemies list” harkens back to the tenure of President Richard Nixon, who had his aides keep an “enemies list” of politicians, journalists and entertainers who Nixon felt had wronged him.
Watch the moment:
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took to Twitter Monday, following President Trump’s explosive threat to Iran.
Zarif tweeted:
Trump’s threat: Trump sent a threatening Twitter message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday night. It read:
Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that Trump was responding to comments made by Iran.
Iran’s president had warned Trump not to “play with the lion’s tail, because you will regret it eternally.” Rouhani also floated the possibility of a peaceful relationship with the US, in remarks reported by Iranian state media.
Republican Rep. Scott Taylor pushed back on the White House threats today to revoke a number of former intelligence officials’ security clearances.
Taylor said even though he thinks remarks made by some former US intelligence officials are “nasty” and “counterproductive,” “it’s free speech.”
“I’m troubled by it, it’s not what we need to be doing — no question about it,” he said.
President Trump has yet to decide whether he intends to actually go ahead with the revocation of security clearances, a senior administration official said tonight.
The official added Trump is “more than comfortable with how this whole discussion is playing out.”
The officials said that even talking about revoking security clearances is just “another way to go after old Obama officials” he thinks have been unfair to him.
So for all of the discussion of how this is another unprecedented move from Trump and for all of the hand-wringing from experts, the White House believes today’s animated media coverage of this is just fine.
“It’s a new way to make the deep state argument,” the official said, which the President believes fires up his base.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer tonight that he’s still looking into the pros and cons of revoking certain former intelligence officials of their security clearances.
“These clearances exist to further the national security of the United States, and that’s the only people that are entitled and need to have it,” the Florida lawmaker said.
He said while security clearances were granted to former US intelligence officials in the past, “we’re in a different time and these sorts of things are always open to reexamination.”
He added: “I just want to be clear, no one is entitled to this stuff. They’re not actively, every single day contributing to our national security. They provided a service to our country in the past.”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul tweeted Monday that he asked President Donald Trump to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, who criticized Trump’s performance last week at the Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an unusual move, Paul wrote Monday morning that he would meet with Trump to discuss allegations that Brennan is “monetizing his security clearance” and “making millions of dollars divulging secrets to mainstream media.”
Read one of Paul’s tweets:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders later confirmed in a press briefing that Trump is considering stripping Brennan and a number of other former national security officials of their clearances.
A person familiar with former FBI Director James Comey’s departure from government tells CNN that Comey was “read out” of his clearances when he left – just like when any employee leaves the government.
This follows White House press secretary Sarah Sanders’ briefing where she said President Trump was considering revoking Comey’s security clearance, alongside other former officials.
Vice President Pence is speaking at an event in Philadelphia this afternoon, where said Trump has “put Iran on notice,” adding “we will not tolerate threats against the United States of America.”
Here’s more from his speech:
President Trump was asked moments ago at a White House event if he had any concerns about provoking tensions with Iran.
Trump said: “None at all, none at all.”
Why we’re talking about Iran: Trump sent a threatening Twitter message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday night.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the President was responding to Iran.
Iran’s president had warned Trump not to “play with the lion’s tail, because you will regret it eternally.” Rouhani also floated the possibility of a peaceful relationship with the US, in remarks reported by Iranian state media.
It is President Trump’s prerogative to revoke security clearances, a former senior intelligence official said.
The official added that he does not recall seeing the President exercise that power before. Usually, the former official said, if there is cause to remove a clearance, it happens at a much lower level.
The former official added usually former senior officials retain clearances largely so their successors can consult with them on a pro bono basis.
A spokesperson for the Central Intelligence Agency said the agency is not commenting on the White House’s decision to explore the possibility of revoking former officials’ security clearances.
Moments ago, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the President was looking into revoking a number of clearances, including former CIA director John Brennan.
President Trump is speaking right now at an event aimed to showcase products made in the US.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s security clearance was already deactivated when he was terminated, his spokesperson said on Twitter, despite President Trump reportedly considering doing just that.
Melissa Schwartz, a strategic and crisis communications consultant, said on Twitter the clearance was revoked “according to what we were told was FBI policy.”
She accused the White House of throwing “shiny objects to the press corps” when Sarah Sanders said President Trump was in fact considering revoking McCabe’s clearance, alongside those of John Brennan, James Clapper, James Comey and Susan Rice.
See the tweet:
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper spoke to CNN moments after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced that Trump was looking into revoking his and other former senior officials’ security clearances.
Clapper said he doesn’t have access to classified information and doesn’t get briefings. He said it’s more of a courtesy that’s extended to former senior officials.
“I think this is just a very, very petty thing to do. And that’s about all I’ll say about it,” Clapper said.
On CNN’s “The Situation Room” later Monday, Clapper said revoking clearances of intelligence officials critical of the President was “chilling.”
“If … when someone applies for security clearance, are they going to add to the standard form 86 a pledge of allegiance to President Trump? Unswerving, uncompromising, complete loyalty to the President as a new criteria for a clearance? That’s a pretty chilling thing,” Clapper said.
President Trump is looking into revoking a number of former intelligence officials’ security clearances, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Asked about Sen. Rand Paul’s request to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, Sanders said Trump is also looking into others’ including…
“They’ve politicized and in some cases monetized their public service,” Sanders said.
Watch more:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked what prompted President Trump to send a threatening Twitter message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday night.
Sanders said Trump was responding to Iran.
“The President’s been, I think, pretty strong since day one in his language towards Iran. He was responding to comments made from them, and he’s going to continue to focus on the safety and security of American people,” Sanders said.
What Trump tweeted (in all-caps):
Iran’s threat: Iran’s president had warned Trump not to “play with the lion’s tail, because you will regret it eternally.” Rouhani also floated the possibility of a peaceful relationship with the US, in remarks reported by Iranian state media.
Watch:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, responding to a reporter’s question about the FISA document release, said President Trump still believes the investigation to be a “witch hunt.”
“He sees more and more every single day that this is proving further and further to be a total witch hunt. Particularly because it was based on a false and unverified and discredited dossier,” she said.
Sanders was also asked how Trump could believe the Mueller investigation is “a big hoax,” as he’s tweeted, if he also believes Russia did in fact interfere in the US election, which he stated last week.
“The President has stated over and over again, as have I and other administration officials, we maintain that Russia interfered in the elections,” she explained. “The president, however, very much so and has repeatedly – as again have the rest of us – that his campaign colluding in that process is a total hoax. We still hold true to that. The President is referencing the collusion component once again.
She added, “The President has faith in the intelligence that suggests and maintain that Russia was involved in the elections. However, it’s also important that that same information concludes that it had no impact on the election. And that the President, again, would like to repeat there was no collusion.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders will hold a press briefing at 2 p.m. ET today. Here are some questions that could come up:
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders will take reporter’s questions at 2 p.m. ET today.
The briefing comes after President Trump tweeted an all-caps threat against Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Other news that could come: Sources say Trump’s lawyers have waived attorney-client privilege on his behalf regarding a secretly recorded conversation he had in September 2016 with his former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen in which they discussed payments to an ex-Playboy model who says she had an affair with the President.
