Trump’s “Deep State” Campaign and Its Effect on U.S. Intelligence

After the al-Qaida attacks in 2001, the CIA shifted from a Cold-War focus on Russia to counter-terrorism, developing new technologies, data-collection tools and drone capabilities. The effort produced notable successes, including the 2011 location of Osama bin Laden and the dismantling of al-Qaida and later the Islamic State. In parallel, the Department of Homeland Security was created and now employs roughly a quarter-million people, making it the second-largest federal agency after the Pentagon. The intelligence community expanded to 18 separate agencies coordinated by the director of national intelligence (DNI), whose office grew far beyond its original modest scope.

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President Trump has framed his agenda as a purge of “corrupt actors” within the national security and intelligence apparatus. Former CIA officer John Sipher warned that the narrative of a partisan “deep state” threatens the non-partisan nature of intelligence work.

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Author Tim Weiner argues that Trump’s selections—such as Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, Kash Patel at the FBI and John Ratcliffe at the CIA—are “sycophants” who will tell the president what he wants to hear. Former intelligence official Steven Cash resigned in 2025, saying he could not in good conscience serve a president who would repurpose the intelligence community against Americans. Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer, notes that counter-terrorism is now “second fiddle” to threats from China and Russia, with resources shifting toward border and narco-trafficking issues in the Americas. Weiner adds that reduced intelligence sharing with allies such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia hampers the CIA’s global reach.

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• The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

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• The CIA’s workforce is about 20,000 personnel.

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• The DNI oversees 18 intelligence agencies.

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• “We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them,” — President Trump

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• “I could not in good conscience keep working for a president who was going to take what I was working on and what others had spent careers working on, and turning it against Americans, which is exactly what he has done," Cash said.” — Steven Cash

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• “Counterterrorism is getting second fiddle to the threats from China and Russia, and the current administration's focus on the border and narco-trafficking means a shift of resources to the Americas,” — Marc Polymeropoulos

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• “The CIA in particular relies or depends on intelligence sharing with friendly and not so friendly foreign intelligence services,” — Tim Weiner, said author

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• “The original idea was it would be very small," Cash said.” — Steven Cash (provides context on the original intent for the DNI office)

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