President Donald Trump has announced that the US intelligence chief Dan Coats will leave office on August 15. Trump tweeted that he plans to nominate Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas as the new Director of National Intelligence. Trump has repeatedly clashed with US intelligence chiefs including Coats over issues ranging from Russian interference in the 2016
election to North Korean denuclearization and Iran.
Coats's departure will be the latest in a long series of exits by top Trump administration officials, including defence secretary Jim Mattis, homeland security chief Kirstjen Nielsen, chief of staff John Kelly and top diplomat Rex Tillerson.