(CNN) The post-Helsinki tension between President Donald Trump and his Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats appeared to have cooled after the President reaffirmed his support for the intelligence community and its assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Then came Aspen.

"Say that again?" Coats said, incredulously, as he was informed during a live onstage interview that Trump was inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington for a second round of talks. "Okay...that's gonna be special."

Coats' reaction left intelligence officials furious that he had not been informed about the invitation and that the White House tweeted the news while Coats was onstage during the nationally televised security conference in Aspen, Colorado. At the White House, meanwhile, officials fumed about Coats' disapproving reaction to the invitation and his freewheeling comments that offered thinly-veiled criticism of the President.

Officials on both sides of the divide are now openly speculating about Coats' future. The intelligence chief isn't scheduled to return to Washington until Monday.

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