Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that he has “never seen” a White House sending out as “confused” a message on national security as the Trump administration.

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Panetta accused the White House of sending a “mixed message” on Russia's election interference.

"I have never in my lifetime seen an administration that is presenting such a confused message when it comes to a national security threat,” Panetta said. “The United States does not have a clear policy when it comes to Russia."

Panetta’s comments come days after President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE’s national security officials reiterated warnings about Russia’s attempts to interfere in US elections.

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"The threat is not going away,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray during a White House press briefing. “Russia attempted to interfere in the last election and continues to do so to this day.”

Despite this, Trump has continued to criticize the investigation into Russian interference, referring to it as a “hoax” at a rally this week and tweeting that Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsRoy Moore sues Alabama over COVID-19 restrictions GOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs MORE should shut the probe down.

And last month, during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump cast doubt on the intelligence community's conclusion by saying that he didn't see why it "would be" Russia who interfered in the 2016 election. He later walked back the comment, saying he misspoke.

Panetta said that Trump’s rhetoric is sending “two messages” on the subject and spreading “tremendous confusion.”

"One is a message to the Russians and to his base. The message to the Russians is 'keep doing what you're doing,’ ” he said. “And the message to his base is 'regardless of the facts, please stick with me and listen to me.’ ”