29 January 2019•Update: 30 January 2019
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
The heads of America's spy agencies broke with U.S. President Donald Trump on a slew of hot button global issues during testimony before a Senate panel Tuesday.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate intelligence committee not only is North Korea unlikely to give up its nuclear program, the U.S. intelligence community continues to observe "some activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearization" following a summit between Trump and North Korea’s leader aimed at ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear arms.
North Korea, Coats said, “will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival” as Trump prepares to meet Kim Jong-un for a second summit next month.
The assessment appears to throw cold water on the U.S.'s stated aim of achieving North Korea's full and verifiable denuclearization.
Coats' testimony coincides with his office's release of the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment report to Congress.
On Daesh, which Trump and his top officials have repeatedly claimed has been defeated by a U.S.-led coalition, Coats said that while the U.S. has defeated the terror group's territorial hold in Iraq and Syria "with a couple of little villages left," it will remain a threat for the foreseeable future.
Daesh still retains control of "thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria," estimated CIA Director Gina Haspel, who was testifying alongside Coats and other top intelligence officials.
Trump touted the organization's defeat when announcing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria last month, but has since walked back the claim to address only the near-complete loss of territory it once controlled.
That has not resulted in Daesh conceding defeat, according to Coats, who said it "has returned to its guerrilla warfare roots while continuing to plot attacks and direct its supporters worldwide."
Coats further addressed Iran, saying the country is "not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device," but noted threats from some Iranian officials to reverse course on curbs Tehran agreed to as part of an international deal struck with world powers if it does not receive the benefits it agreed to.
Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the pact, which gave Iran billions of dollars in sanction relief in exchange for accepting limits on its nuclear activities. He and his administration have called on other nations to follow suit, but none have.
