This event is of great significance - not only because of the rarity of presidential visits to the CIA - but because of what Donald Trump said to the assembled CIA employees as he spoke in the main entrance hall of the agency's HQ.
Though most of his remarks, lasting about 15 minutes, were conciliatory and obviously aimed at burying the hatchet with those in the agency who spearheaded the Russia-themed defamation campaign against Trump, towards the end of his statement he dropped a not-so-subtle hint that further opposition to his mandate would not be tolerated.
Remarking on the lack of space in the hall to accommodate the audience, the president suggested redesigning the CIA HQ without "columns."
Anybody who thinks Trump was talking about architectural features is missing something. It is plainly obvious what he really meant. He was referring to the 5th column in American goverment, represented by the CIA, which has and is still continuing to work without the supervision of and often actually against the constitutionally elected government.
Many comparisons have been made between President Trump and JFK. Trump is definitely not Kennedy. JFK would never have had the brazen audacity to march into the CIA's headquarters and issue a thinly veiled threat to their faces - albeit done with a smile. Trump is totally above and beyond JFK, who came to the White House frankly, a little naive and with little hands on experience in wheeling and dealing beyond a few years in congress.
Donald Trump has got massive stainless steel cajones. He has marched right into the lion's den, and said in no uncertain terms, "Look, I'm willing to put the past behind us -- but don't you even think about trying to screw me going forward."
From the reaction of the audience, it appeared that the rank and file CIA men at least, seemed sympathetic to the new president. It is indeed hidden columns in the agency, whether in the leadership or elsewhere, that Trump has to contend with.
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