(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –The US director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, has become the latest high-profile figure to leave the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump tweeted Mr Coats would step down in mid-August and that he would nominate the Texan congressman John Ratcliffe to replace him.
He said Mr Ratcliffe would lead and “inspire greatness for the country” he loved.
Mr Coats and Mr Trump have often been at odds over Russia and North Korea.
As director of national intelligence, it was Mr Coats’ role to oversee all 17 US intelligence agencies, including the CIA and NSA.
But throughout his tenure, Mr Coats’ assessments were routinely contradicted by the president, who has been critical of intelligence agencies.
In January the president called his intelligence chiefs passive and naive in their assessment of the threat posed by Iran.
Mr Coats is the latest in a string of Trump administration officials to leave the White House, former Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson among them.
