Trump tells CIA the media lied about feud with top US spies and says he’s behind intelligence community ‘1,000 per cent’
Earlier this month he questioned whether outgoing CIA director John Brennan was the "leaker of fake news"
PRESIDENT Donald Trump denied he feuded with the nation's intelligence agencies at his visit to CIA headquarters in Virginia and told officers "I love you".
Trump visited CIA headquarters today in one of his first stops as president and blamed the media for making it sound like he had a feud with US spooks.
Despite his denial, the new president in fact had accused intelligence agencies of delaying his briefing about Russia's attempts to hack last year's election, and belittled their assessment.
Earlier this month he also questioned whether outgoing CIA director John Brennan was the "leaker of fake news."
He said: "They made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. It's... exactly the opposite."
"We're all on the same wavelength, right?" he asked, referring in particular to the fight against the Islamic State group.
"We have not used the real abilities that we have. We've been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS."
Trump told the workers that they are really special and amazing people and that "I am so behind you" - and then hinted at further military action in the Middle East.
“We should have kept the oil,” Mr. Trump said about the Iraq war.
"Maybe we’ll have another chance.”
Former CIA Director John Brennan released a statement through his former deputy chief of staff Nick Shapiro.
"Former CIA Director Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes," Shapiro said.
"Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself."
The billionaire also denied reports that his inauguration was poorly-attended.
Trump wrongly said the crowd had stretched all the way to the Washington Monument in the middle of the National Mall.
Photos taken of the Mall on Friday showed large swaths of empty space compared to Barack Obama's inauguration eight years ago.
Trump says the inauguration crowd looked to be about a million and a half people.
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"We had a massive field of people, packed. I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks and there's an empty field. I made a speech I looked out. It looked like a million, a million and a half people.
"We caught them, and we caught them in a beauty and they're going to pay a big price."
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave a press conference - his first - after the speech where he accused the press of false reporting and claimed floor coverings on National Mall made it appear that fewer people were at Trump inauguration.
He said: "This was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass at the Mall. This had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in year's past the grass eliminated this visual."
He then left the podium and refused to answer any of the reporters' questions.
His comments came after an estimated 500,000 people joined a women's march in Washington, attended by celebrities including Madonna, Scarlet Johansson and Katy Perry.
Mr Trump made no mention of the march, which was one of several across the world, including in London.
He also claimed God intervened to stop it raining on his inauguration. It wasn't clear if he was making a joke.
Mike Pompeo, Trump's pick to lead the CIA, has not yet been confirmed by the US Senate.
A 53-year-old Republican lawmaker, Pompeo is considered a foreign policy hawk and was an ardent opponent of former president Barack Obama's administration.
Outgoing CIA director John Brennan had stern words for Trump last Sunday, saying he needed to be more "disciplined" in his public comments.
"I don't think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia's intentions and actions," Brennan said of Trump on Fox News Sunday.