Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Dog, Animals
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Donald Trump reportedly banned an elderly intelligence officer from seeing his service dog graduate - and people are furious.
James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence under the Obama administration who has also served in the US Air Force, claims that his name was taken off the guest list one day before the event back in May due to an executive order from the president.
The 84-year-old served in the director role between 2010 and 2017 and had sponsored a K9 officer - a yellow Labrador called Susan, who he named after his late wife.
According to The Atlantic, Clapper was one of the ‘longest-serving and most experienced intelligence officers in US history’ with a five-decade long career, and his wife Susan was also a former National Security Agency employee.
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Earlier this year, his dog completed a CIA training program for detection K9s as she’s a ‘natural at sniffing out concealed explosives’.
The former intelligence offer had sponsored the pup through a nonprofit organisation that helps place service dogs.
He was understandably delighted at the thought of seeing his dog graduate, until he got a letter through the door 24 hours before from the nonprofit organisation, informing him that he’d been scratched from the list.
Why on Earth would the president do this, you may be asking? Well, Trump’s disdain for Clapper seems to stem from his first term.
Clapper testified in a hearing into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which is in the news again as Trump continues to brand it a ‘hoax’.
In TV interviews, Clapper has also made his concerns about Trump clear, publicly questioning whether he’s fit for office on multiple occasions.
Then, when Trump returned to the Oval Office, he stripped Clapper’s security clearance via executive order along with other former intelligence officials, the publication reports.
On Tuesday (22 July), the US president brought up Clapper's name again as he took aim at Barack Obama, accusing him of treason.
Speaking of the 2016 hoax claims, he said: “It would be President Obama, he started it.
“And [Joe] Biden was there with him, and [James] Comey was there, and [James] Clapper - the whole group was there, and [John] Brennan.”
“The leader of the gang was President Obama … He’s guilty.”
However, even with the pair’s clear dislike for each other taken into account, people can’t believe that Trump would bring the dog into it.
Taking to the Instagram comments section of a post sharing the story, one user angrily penned: “Imagine being so consumed by bitterness that you block an elderly veteran from attending the graduation of a dog he helped train. That is not policy. That is petty revenge.”
Another chimed in with: “How does the president of the United States have this much time on his hands?”
Others added: “Such a petty little man. Never trust someone who hates dogs” and “This is horrific and should upset people on both sides of the aisle.”
“This action by Trump is a disgrace to the Office of the President of the United States. What a small man!” wrote another angry social media user.
Tyla has contacted the White House for comment.
