Former Director of National Intelligence Michael Hayden in Washington, D.C., August 22, 2018. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Former CIA director Michael Hayden said in an interview released on Friday that President Trump should receive the respect every U.S. president is entitled to.

“I do think that the office and the occupant, the current occupant of the office, deserves the respect that is due [to] any American president,” Hayden stated. “Just in questions of style, I don’t refer to the fellow down the street [Trump] with anything other than ‘the president.’ I never just use his last name without the title.”


Even so, Hayden expressed dismay with Trump’s governing style, which he sees as a way for the president to further his personal and political needs.

“This is the most norm-busting president in the history of the United States. There are no norms that seem to bind him. None that he is not willing to cross or break for his personal, policy, or political needs of the moment,” Hayden said. “I think it’s what frightens people like me.”

He added that officials should be careful not to take a page from the president’s book by protesting him too outlandishly.


“We have got to be very, very careful because if we break our own norms in protesting the president’s violation of norms, we’re not making things better,” he said.


The former CIA chief’s comments come in the wake of Trump’s decision to revoke the security clearance of another former CIA director, John Brennan, a move that sparked swift condemnation from a number of other ex-intelligence officials.

The White House cited Brennan’s “unfounded and outrageous statements, wild outbursts on the internet and television about this administration” and his “erratic conduct and behavior” as the basis for the decision. Brennan responded with defiance, calling the move an “abuse of power.”

“This action is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics,” Brennan said. “My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent.”

Earlier this week, Hayden said he would be “honored” to have his security clearance stripped as well.


“Frankly, if his not revoking my clearance gave the impression that I somehow moved my commentary in a direction more acceptable to the White House, I would find that very disappointing and frankly unacceptable,” he said.


The White House is considering stripping security clearances from more current and former officials, including Hayden, former FBI director James Comey, former director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former deputy attorney general Sally Yates, former national-security adviser Susan Rice, former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and Justice Department staffer Bruce Ohr.

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