John Ratcliffe

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Billionaires, trusted allies, media personalities. These are the people Trump picked for top roles

President Donald Trump has prioritized loyalty in building his second-term team. The Republican has surrounded himself with people who served faithfully in his first administration or who worked on one or more of his three campaigns.

Ksenia Karelina greets her fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, as she arrives Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Ksenia Karelina, a dual US-Russian national released by Moscow in prisoner swap, arrives in US

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, left, joined by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, testifies as the House Intelligence Committee holds a hearing on worldwide threats, at the Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Judge blocks firing of intelligence agency employees who worked on DEI programs

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, center, is flanked by FBI Director Kash Patel, left, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, as the Senate Intelligence Committee holds its worldwide threats hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

What is ‘classified’ information? What are ‘secure’ communications? Here’s a primer

Signal app on a smartphone is seen on a mobile device screen Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Judge orders government to preserve Signal messages about Houthi military strike

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Senate Democrats clash with Trump’s intelligence officials over war plans group chat

Senate Democrats are calling for possible resignations after top national security officials texted military plans to a group chat that included The Atlantic editor Jeff Goldberg. CIA Director John Ratcliffe says he doesn’t know how Goldberg was added.

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CIA Director insists war plan group chat contained no classified information

Top Senate Intel Committee Democrat Warner blasts leaked war plans as “sloppy, incompetent”

Senate confirms Kristi Noem as Trump’s homeland security secretary

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth does a television interview outside the White House, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Atlantic releases the Signal chat showing Hegseth’s detailed attack plans against the Houthis

President Donald Trump waves as he departs a reception celebrating Greek Independence Day in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Latest: Trump places 25% tariffs on auto imports

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, flanked by FBI Director Kash Patel, left, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, testifies as the House Intelligence Committee holds a hearing on worldwide threats, at the Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Gabbard calls Signal chats a ‘mistake’ as Trump officials face grilling over leaked military plan

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Pool via AP)

The Signal attack plan messages: What we do (and don’t) know

President Donald Trump gestures as he departs a reception celebrating Greek Independence Day in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump downplays national security team texting military operation plan on Signal as a minor ‘glitch’

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One en route to New Jersey, Friday, Mar. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Latest: Trump overhauls US elections in new executive order, including proof of citizenship

FBI Director Kash Patel, joined at right by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, answers questions as the Senate Intelligence Committee holds its worldwide threats hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump intel officials testify on threat from drug cartels as Dems press them on leak of attack plans

Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign "Krystal" fires M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

US arms flow to Ukraine again as the Kremlin mulls a ceasefire proposal

Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

CIA lays off some recently hired officers as Trump shakes up intelligence community

Ukrainian servicemen fire a M777 howitzer towards Russian positions at the front line near Donetsk, Ukraine, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)

Ukraine will struggle to strike targets inside Russia without US intelligence

Medical researchers from universities and the National Institutes of Health rally near the Health and Human Services headquarters to protest federal budget cuts Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)

The Latest: Trump delays more tariffs amid economic fears

A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to fire a M777 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline near Donetsk, Ukraine, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)

Trump administration pauses flow of intelligence to Ukraine that helps on battlefield

New York City Mayor Eric Adams takes his seat at the witness table during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

The Latest: Trump grants monthlong exemption for US automakers from new tariffs on imports

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Hegseth orders suspension of Pentagon’s offensive cyberoperations against Russia

CIA to offer tips on ‘creative problem solving’ at SXSW festival

President Donald Trump speaks as Tulsi Gabbard is sworn in as the Director of National Intelligence in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump upends US policy on Ukraine and says he and Putin have agreed to begin talks on ending the war

John Ratcliffe listens before Vice President JD Vance swears him in as CIA Director in the Vice Presidential ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

CIA offers buyouts to staffers as new director looks to stamp Trump’s imprint on the agency

A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

The CIA believes COVID most likely originated from a lab but has low confidence in its own finding

Vice President JD Vance, from left, swears in Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense as his wife Jennifer Rauchet holds the Bible and Hegseth's son watches in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Hegseth is quickly sworn in as defense secretary after dramatic Senate vote

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate confirms Noem as Trump’s homeland security secretary

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be Defense secretary, gives a thumbs up while leaving after his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Hegseth confirmed as Trump’s defense secretary in tie-breaking vote despite turmoil over his conduct

Vice President JD Vance swears in John Ratcliffe as CIA Director as his wife Michele holds the Bible in the Vice Presidential ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Senate confirms John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA, giving Trump his second Cabinet member

Senate confirms John Ratcliffe as CIA director

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be Defense Secretary, poses for a photo with Cabinet picks, other nominees and appointments, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Senate advances Pete Hegseth as Trump’s defense secretary, despite allegations

Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden follow President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden as they walk to Marine One for departure from the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump moves to revoke clearances of ex-intel officials who signed letter on Hunter Biden laptop

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a nominee for Secretary of State, attends the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state, giving Trump the first member of his Cabinet

President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House as he gives his farewell address Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

Biden’s new executive order aims to shore up US cyber defenses

John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

John Ratcliffe, Trump’s CIA pick, tells senators the agency is ‘not where we’re supposed to be’

FILE - Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, testifies before a hearing April 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

What to know about John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick for CIA director

Trump announces nomination of former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to head CIA