Panel discussion
The Second Trump Administration, the US Intelligence Community, and Transatlantic Security Relations
- Date
- Tuesday 11 February 2025
- Time
- Explanation
- Please note: free entrance, but registration required
- Location
-
Wijnhaven
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DP The Hague - Room
- 2.01
Join Leiden University’s Intelligence and Security Research Group for a panel discussion of the implications of Donald Trump's return to the American presidency for the US Intelligence Community (USIC) and transatlantic intelligence and security cooperation.
Before and after his re-election, President Trump and his close political allies have publicly and privately stated their desires to make significant changes to the organisation, characteristics, and missions of several prominent agencies within the USIC. This forms part of a wider agenda of top-down reform across the US federal government, from law enforcement and the military to health and education.
Many of these changes suggest enhancing the executive power of the president relative to the legislative and judicial branches of government. This includes through senior leadership appointments seemingly characterised primarily by personal political loyalty to the president. This not only has implications for the missions, norms, laws, and accountability of the USIC in supporting US national security. These changes – and the parallel stated agenda of the Trump Administration to overhaul American relations with NATO and EU member states – may also have several implications for the intelligence and security communities of Europe in carrying out their missions on behalf of their fellow citizens.
To discuss these current and future trends, please join the Intelligence and Security Research Group in the Institute for Security and Global Affairs (ISGA). The discussion will be led by four very knowledgeable researchers and practitioners from across Europe and the US, who you do not want to miss:
- David Gioe, Visiting Professor of Intelligence and International Security at King’s College London and a former intelligence officer in the USIC.
- Linde Desmaele, Assistant Professor of Intelligence and Security in ISGA specialising in US alliances and European security.
- Pepijn Tuinier, Lecturer at the Netherlands Defence Academy specialising on European and international intelligence cooperation.
- Clément Renault, Senior Research Fellow in Intelligence, War and Strategy at the French Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM) and author of a recent article on this event’s topic.