Donald Trump's chief spokesman said Thursday that there's 'no truth' to a news report describing a plan by the president-elect to downsize the CIA's headquarters and 'restructure' America's intelligence agencies in order to de-politicize them.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and his national security team were set to move more CIA agents to foreign posts along with 'streamlining' the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

But in a conference call with reporters, Trump's incoming press secretary Sean Spicer completely denied the story, which was based on anonymous sources who claimed to have inside knowledge of the transition team's intentions.

'These reports are false. All transition activities are for information gathering purposes and all discussions are tentative,' Spicer said.

Donald Trump will not be cutting or restructuring the CIA or the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, his spokesman said Thursday, denying a Wall Street Journal report

'The president-elect's top priority will be to ensure the safety of the American people and the security of the nation, and he is committed to finding the best and most effective way to do it.'

'There is no truth to this idea of restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure. It is 100 per cent false,' Spicer reiterated.

The Journal story followed Director of National Intelligence John Brennan's announcement that the CIA believes Russia hacked U.S.-based computer systems to help Trump win the presidency.

Speaking anonymously, a Trump staffer claimed: 'The view from the Trump team is the intelligence world has become completely politicized.'

'They all need to be slimmed down. The focus will be on restructuring the agencies and how they interact.'

That means more agents in field posts abroad and fewer staff at Langley, the Agency's Virginia headquarters, the source said.

Trump's staff say that he has long been critical of the CIA, and that he was vocal in 2002 and 2003 about faulty intelligence on Iraq-based weapons of mass destruction which led to a U.S. invasion.

Although various US intelligence bodies have expressed concerns that Russia was behind hacks on the Democratic National Committee, and on Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, the president-elect has repeatedly rejected the idea.

On Wednesday, the latest swing at intelligence agencies came when he seized on Julian Assange's contention that Russia was not behind the hacking, and that Moscow did not supply WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails.

He tweeted: 'Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!'

His previous tweet before that suggested that intelligence agencies had failed to compile a proper case on the Russian hacks when a planned briefing was pushed back to Friday.

'The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case,' he tweeted. 'Very strange!'

Trump's antagonistic relationship with the CIA got worse after its director, John Brennan, said Russia tried to help him win the election

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly talked up Russian premier Vladimir Putin.

Last Friday he tweeted: 'Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!'

Trump's apparently blithe enthusiasm for a long-held opponent to America, and his dismissal of the very agencies created to protect his position, the Government he will head and the country he will lead, has upset several people.

On Wednesday Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan told radio host Hugh Hewitt that Assange 'is a sycophant for Russia. He leaks, he steals data and compromises national security.'

And Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has followed suit.

'We have two choices,' he said, 'some guy living in an embassy on the run from the law… who has a history of undermining American democracy and releasing classified information to put our troops at risk, or the 17 intelligence agencies sworn to defend us,' said Sen. '

'I'm going with them.'

In other areas, such as opposition to the North Korean regime, Trump is more in line with US intelligence orthodoxy.

Trump also enthusiastically took Julian Assange's word that Russia didn't supply Wikileaks with DNC emails

The CIA is unlikely to find much solace in Trump's new picks for the top intelligence slots.

Brennan will be making way for new CIA head Representative Mike Pompeo, while Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will be the new national security adviser.

Both agree with Trump that claims that Russia tried to help him win is an attempt to undermine his victory, an insider said. Neither man commented to the Wall Street Journal.

This isn't the first time that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which was created in 2004 to improve coordination between the various intelligence agencies in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, has been earmarked for possible cuts.

In 2010 a White House panel, The President's Intelligence Advisory Board, recommended that it be downsized and more tightly focused, the Congressional Research Service said.

That advice was not acted upon, partly because of fears that doing so might destabilize its work on counterterrorism and nuclear proliferation.