Until the 12-day war between the Israeli-American alliance and Iran in June 2025, Donald Trump's return to the White House on January 20, 2025, had not had a major impact on intelligence cooperation between Washington and Paris. The first sign that the world of intelligence would also have to adapt to the new transatlantic reality emerged that summer. France's foreign intelligence service, the DGSE, realized dialogue with American agencies on Iranian issues would now be limited. "Their contacts told them," recounted a French diplomat connected with the DGSE, "that they could no longer exchange information about Iranian nuclear facilities, because President Trump had declared that they had all been destroyed." Even the Israelis disputed such a claim.
The erratic leadership of the American president, purges within the US intelligence community and politically motivated appointments of inexperienced figures at the helm and in subordinate roles now affect cooperation with Western intelligence partners. It is a rare development, as intelligence agencies, often seen as the last bastion of realpolitik, usually withstand political turbulence. As a result, since the summer, France and its closest European partners have ramped up their initiatives to reduce dependence on US intelligence and strengthen their own sovereignty.
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The erratic leadership of the American president, purges within the US intelligence community and politically motivated appointments of inexperienced figures at the helm and in subordinate roles now affect cooperation with Western intelligence partners. It is a rare development, as intelligence agencies, often seen as the last bastion of realpolitik, usually withstand political turbulence. As a result, since the summer, France and its closest European partners have ramped up their initiatives to reduce dependence on US intelligence and strengthen their own sovereignty.
You have 81.19% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.