Ned Price, a former CIA analyst and outspoken Donald Trump critic, said Tuesday on MSNBC that the Trump administration could be a national security threat on par with the Islamic State and North Korea.
Price previously drew attention for a February Washington Post op-ed in which he wrote that he chose to leave the CIA because of President Trump. Price suggested while appearing on "Morning Joe" that the White House should be considered a threat because America's enemies could potentially take advantage of it.
MSNBC's Willie Geist asked Price about the relationship between the president and the intelligence community, especially in light of Trump's reported recent disclosure of classified information to Russian officials.
"This is not a president who has ever had a good relationship with the intelligence community, and in fact, even before he was president as the Republican nominee, he just casually dismissed the high-confidence findings of all 17 intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the election," Price said.
Price went on to emphasize how he felt Trump had misstepped in relation to the intelligence community before implying that the president might represent a national security threat.
"Last week we had this hearing of all of our national security officials on worldwide threats, and of course they covered ISIL, they covered Syria, North Korea," Price said, referring to the hearing that featured the first public inquiry on the firing of former FBI Director James Comey.
"I think we have to start asking ourselves, at what point does this administration itself become a threat we have to be concerned about?" Price continued.
"A threat not only of foreign agents in the White House, for example, but a threat because our adversaries like [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un and others will take advantage of this administration, will test this administration knowing that they have caused utter chaos," he said.
"I want everyone to think about the question you just asked, Ned Price," agreed co-host Mika Brzezinski. "Because that's where we're at. Where we don't know if this presidency can sustain itself."
Near the end of the Obama administration, the CIA loaned Price to the National Security Council, where he served as a spokesman and special assistant to former President Barack Obama.