On Saturday, Donald Trump told a press pool onboard Air Force One he has not only discussed the possibility of Russia meddling in 2016 with Vladimir Putin, but also that he believed Putin when the Russian president told Trump the Kremlin had nothing to do with the election. His statement was troubling, all the more so since multiple U.S. intelligence groups—including the C.I.A. and F.B.I.—agree that Russia probably did influence the outcome of the election. Now two former directors of national intelligence groups say that Putin is “playing” Trump for a fool by appealing to the American president’s ego.

“By not confronting the issue directly and not acknowledging to Putin that we know you’re responsible for this, I think he’s giving Putin a pass,” former C.I.A. director John Brennan told C.N.N.’s State of the Union on Sunday, via The Washington Post. “I think it demonstrates to Mr. Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and try to play upon his insecurities, which is very, very worrisome from a national security standpoint.”

Putin’s press secretary denies that Putin and Trump had ever discussed Russia’s involvement in the election, but the two have met, and seemed friendly, a few times. In his defense of the Russian president, Trump indicated that it would be better for the U.S. and Russia to have a good relationship, because the Kremlin could help the U.S. with North Korea—a problem many believe Trump himself is exacerbating with his insulting tweets directed at Kim Jong Un.

Former National Intelligence Director James R. Clapper, while appearing on the same C.N.N. segment, agreed with Brennan about Trump. “He seems very susceptible to rolling out the red carpet and honor guards and all the trappings and pomp and circumstance that come with the office, and I think that appeals to him, and I think it plays to his insecurities,” Clapper said.

“I don’t know why the ambiguity about this,” Brennan said. “Putin is committed to undermining our system, our democracy and our whole process. And to try paint it in any other way is, I think, astounding, and, in fact, poses a peril to this country.”

During a Sunday news conference in Hanoi with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Trump seemed to step back a little from his earlier statements: “What I said is that I believe [Putin] believes that,” he said.