--- title: Donald Trump Unleashes Twitter Ire at James Clapper description: President Trump turned his Twitter ire to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper after he questioned his fitness. canonical: https://time.com/4914130/james-clapper-donald-trump-fitness/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-24T16:18:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:09:04.411Z article:section: Politics og:title: This Former Official Questioned Trump's Fitness for Office. So Trump Tweeted at Him og:description: "I don't know when I've watched something like this from a President that I've found more disturbing." og:url: https://time.com/4914130/james-clapper-donald-trump-fitness/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57865ebec0da2c7b/6988d08f196cf4b17d040775/gettyimages-689402354.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Meet the Press - Season 70 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Former Official Questioned Trump's Fitness for Office. So Trump Tweeted at Him twitter:description: "I don't know when I've watched something like this from a President that I've found more disturbing." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57865ebec0da2c7b/6988d08f196cf4b17d040775/gettyimages-689402354.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Former Intelligence Official Questioned Trump's Fitness for Office. So Trump Tweeted at Him > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 24, 2017 4:18 PM UTC  Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in Washington, D.C., May 28, 2017. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in Washington, D.C., May 28, 2017. William B. Plowman—NBC NewsWire/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 24, 2017 4:18 PM UTC Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper questioned Donald Trump’s fitness for office, so the President fired back with an angry tweet Thursday morning. Clapper drew headlines Wednesday after questioning Trump’s mental state following a [77-minute rally in Phoenix, Arizona,](http://time.com/4912055/donald-trump-phoenix-arizona-transcript/) where the president threatened a government shutdown, criticized Republican senators and argued that the media is unpatriotic. “I don’t know when I’ve listened and watched something like this from a President that I’ve found more disturbing. Having some understanding of the levers of power that are available to a President if he chooses to exercise them, I found this downright scary and disturbing,” [Clapper told CNN’s Don Lemon](http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/23/politics/james-clapper-trump-phoenix-rally-don-lemon-cnntv/index.html) Wednesday evening. “Are you questioning his fitness?” Lemon asked. “Yes I do,” Clapper said. “I really question his ability — his fitness to be in this office — and I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for that.” The following day, Trump fired back, noting the controversy over Clapper’s testimony to Congress that the U.S. was not collecting data on millions of Americans, which was later disproved by documents leaked by Edward Snowden. Clapper [has said he misspoke](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-clapper-says-he-misspoke-didnt-lie-about-nsa-surveillance/). “James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump. Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?” Trump tweeted at 9:15 a.m., the sixth of seven Twitter posts he wrote or shared that morning. Shawn Turner, Clapper’s spokesman, said the letter Trump was referring to was the note he had prepared for the winner of the Presidential election, that was handed to to Trump with the presidential briefing the morning after he had won. Clapper had prepared nearly identical notes for Trump and Clinton, Turner said. Both contained congratulatory sentiments and reiterated the values and commitment of the intelligence community to holding truth to power. Turner said Clapper, who was unavailable to speak with TIME, had no comment on the President’s tweets this morning. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4914130/james-clapper-donald-trump-fitness/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4914130/james-clapper-donald-trump-fitness/"},"headline":"This Former Intelligence Official Questioned Trump's Fitness for Office. 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