Donald Trump's reported short-listers to head up the Central Intelligence Agency would be a national security time bomb waiting to happen, former Naval War College professor and anti-Trump conservative commentator Tom Nichols wrote Thursday on X.
Trump is said to have two particular names vying for Trump's nomination to be CIA director: Kash Patel and Ric Grenell.
Patel, a lawyer and one-time adviser to former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) on the House Intelligence Committee, earned a spot on the National Security Council despite a lack of government experience due to his loyalty to Trump. He has pushed Jan. 6 conspiracy theories and vowed to go after Trump's political enemies.
Grenell, prior to being Trump's ambassador to Germany, was primarily known for being a right-wing troll on social media. His own office has warned he's vulnerable to blackmail because of secret dealings with a Moldovan politician.
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Grenell, at the very least, is considered by some Trump insiders to be a "shoo-in" for a position in Trump's government, according to Politico, although it's unclear whether he'll get the CIA job.
Regardless, neither man is qualified to head up the CIA, wrote Nichols — and, he warned, this is a position that actually needs someone qualified.
"During a crisis — say, a nuclear crisis — the DCIA is supposed to be one of the key people with a firm grip on data and solid judgment to advise the President on what to do next," wrote Nichols. "Appointing inexperienced, loyalist clowns is not a big deal at some agencies. Not this one."
All of this comes amid alarm bells from other experts on people who could be advising the next Trump administration on major policy, including tech billionaire Elon Musk's interest in heading up a commission to find unnecessary government positions to eliminate, and vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s push to be put in charge of public health policy.