With the Trump administration a level of professionalism returned to the National Security Council staff which had been lacking during the eight years of Obama. Many Obama holdovers throughout the Executive Branch and within the Intelligence Community however, sought to derail and block President Trump's foreign policy and national security agenda articulated on the 2016 presidential campaign trail. Through surreptitious, illegal, and blatantly abusive misuse of America's covert intelligence gathering agencies they were largely successful. | With the Trump administration a level of professionalism returned to the National Security Council staff which had been lacking during the eight years of Obama. Many Obama holdovers throughout the Executive Branch and within the Intelligence Community however, sought to derail and block President Trump's foreign policy and national security agenda articulated on the 2016 presidential campaign trail. Through surreptitious, illegal, and blatantly abusive misuse of America's covert intelligence gathering agencies they were largely successful. |