Trump vows to make leakers 'pay' as rift between president and intelligence agencies escalates
Jamie Roberton
Former Health and Science Producer
The deep distrust between Donald Trump and the US intelligence agencies is escalating, with the US president vowing to make agents who leak information "pay a big price".
As a candidate, Mr Trump hailed the hackers who leaked the emails of his former rival Hillary Clinton, famously declaring: "I love WikiLeaks".
But he is striking a very different tone on leaks now he is in the Oval Office, accusing the intelligence agencies of "illegally" releasing information about his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn wasforced to resign after lying about the conversations he held with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
Mr Trump upped his rhetoric on Wednesday, telling reporters: "We'll find the leakers. We're gonna find the leakers - they're gonna pay a big price for leaking."
In another move which has antagonised America's spies, Mr Trump is planning on appointing Stephen Feinberg - a New York billionaire with no experience in intelligence matters - to oversee a "broad review" of the intelligence agencies.
Members of the intelligence community have reacted furiously, questioning whether Mr Trump is angling to curtail their independence and "bend the community to the will of the president".
These tensions, along with lingering questions over the Trump administration's ties to Russia, have even allegedly led agents to start withholding sensitive material from the president in the fear it may be leaked or compromised.
The White House and Director of National Intelligence have strongly disputed the account, first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
But the volume of information emerging from intelligence circles combined with Mr Trump's renewed hostility risks plunging the relationship between the president and the intelligence community to unprecedented depths.