Persistent targeting by the Department of Justice has caused former President Donald Trump to decline what would typically be information shared with someone in his position.

The former president announced on Wednesday of this week that he wouldn't get any intelligence briefings as the Republican nominee, as Axios reported.

He told members of the media that he was declining because he was concerned that he would be accused of leaking classified information, should any be shared with him. In other words, he's concerned he's being set up.

Typical Briefings

After receiving their party's nomination for president, candidates are briefed by U.S. espionage agencies on the duties and responsibilities of the office.

Doubters began to wonder if Trump could be trusted with sensitive material after the F.B.I. discovered government documents, including secret papers, at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

Now that he could request the briefings, the former president told reporters in an exclusive interview that he felt a trap was in the works.

"I don't want them, because, number one, I know what's happening. It's very easy to see what's happening," he said before making negative comments about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his newly installed election opponent.

President Trump is refusing intelligence briefings because the Deep State continues to try and sabotage him:

“They come in, they give you a briefing and then two days later they leak it and then they say you leaked it. The only way to solve that problem is not to take them.” pic.twitter.com/8UEhoE2Qsm

— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) August 22, 2024

More of Trump's Comments

"We have an incompetent leader, and we have two incompetent leaders," Trump went on. "We have a Marxist that's going to try and be president, and this country is not ready for a Marxist or a communist president, and that's what she is.

"She destroyed San Francisco, she destroyed California, and this country is not ready for it. So I don't want that, because as soon as I get that, they'll say that I leaked it.

The former president went on to share his take on the situation, saying he belives that the "best way to handle" it is to decline, saying "I don't need that briefing. They come in, they give you a briefing, and then two days later, they leak it, and then they say You leaked it."

"So the only way to solve that problem is not to take it I don't want it understood. I'll have plenty of them when I get in."

Context of the Comments

Trump made these remarks following a massive set-piece address in Asheboro, North Carolina, in which he outlined his goals for national security and called for the resignation of individuals responsible for the disorganized pullout from Afghanistan.

Since the introduction of intelligence briefings by President Harry Truman in the early 1950s, presidential hopefuls have been provided with them.

Candidates will be better prepared for office and the transfer of power will be less rocky with their help. These briefings are being organized by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.