President warns of cyber conflict

MCLEAN, Va. — President Biden used his first visit with rankandfile members of the U.S. intelligence community — a part of government that was frequently criticized by his predecessor Donald Trump — to make a promise that he will “never politicize” their work.

Biden waited more than six months to make the short drive across the Potomac River on Tuesday to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, giving analysts and national security leaders — often derided by Trump as the “deep state” — some breathing room.

Trump would go through four permanent or acting directors of national intelligence in four years and engaged in nearconstant fights with the intelligence community.

In his remarks to about 120 ODNI employees and senior leadership officials, the president sought to make clear that he understood the complexity and critical nature of their work. The agency oversees the 17 other U.S. intelligence organizations.

“You have my full confidence,” he said. “I know there’s no such thing as 100% certainty in the intelligence world. Occasionally that happens. Rarely, rarely, rarely.”

Biden told the audience that his administration would be “getting us back to the basics.”

“I’ll never politicize the work you do. You have my word on that,” he said. “It’s too important for our country.”

Biden also mentioned Russia and China as growing threats to American national security and noted the growing wave of cyberattacks, including ransomware attacks, against government agencies and private industry that U.S. officials have linked to agents in both countries.

“I think it’s more likely … if we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence,” Biden said.