UK spy chiefs spooked as Trump strains the special relationship

When the US president doesn't like what his intelligence chiefs tell him, they change their tune or go. So where does that leave the UK?

- By Gordon Corera

The job of CIA station chief in London is best known from TV thrillers where they are orchestrating some shadowy plot.

The reality is very different. This low profile role is about keeping one of the most important, enduring intelligence alliances running smoothly.

But in the last few weeks, the veteran CIA officer slated to take up the position had the rug pulled from under him. The reason was that the officer — who had been deeply involved in defending Ukraine — was quoted in a book in a way that found disfavor among supporters of President Trump, who made their views known to the CIA director.

It was just the latest sign of politics creeping into intelligence that has left allies worried. Ask Britain's most senior spies and national security officials how the relationship with the US is faring and they assure you everything is fine. But even their best poker faces cannot mask the unease. “It is all smiley faces on the surface, but beneath that there is real anxiety,” is how one British official put it.

Intelligence officials have long emphasised that whatever the political headwinds, the working relationship between professionals endures. That held true through the first Trump administration despite the odd rocky moment. But Trump 2.0 does not feel like Trump 1.0.

When America’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, accused former national security officials of a “treasonous conspiracy” it caused discomfort and made it significantly harder to pretend that there was nothing to see. The resurrection of allegations of a deep state trying to undermine Trump's 2016 election may be primarily about distracting from the Jeffrey Epstein affair, but it points to the extent to which intelligence is being drawn into Washington's polarised politics. British officials see little to be gained in getting involved or speaking out.