Think twice before you share intelligence with the careless and greedy people who run the United States
The FBI chief Kash Patel is heading to Moscow, according to a well-sourced but unconfirmed report, where he is to be hosted by the Russian security service, the FSB. Nothing wrong with that in principle: under the previous administration the then CIA chief Bill Burns regularly acted as message-carrier to the Kremlin. But news of the visit comes as allies’ trust in American spookdom is hitting new lows.
One reason is the FBI chief himself. His notoriously thin-skinned, self-important and bombastic behaviour includes a resolute refusal to admit that Russia interferes in the US political system. This is troubling, given that the FBI is not just a law-enforcement agency: it is also responsible for catching spies and foiling foreign governments’ influence operations inside the US.
The former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard took a similarly bizarre position, at least in public. Her temporary replacement by the spectacularly ill-qualified Bill Pulte did nothing to soothe allies’ nerves. (A far more solid nominee, Jay Clayton, is expected to be confirmed soon). President Donald Trump himself sets the tone in this pattern of capricious, Kremlin-friendly leadership. His careless handling of classified information features storing it insecurely in his Mar-el-Lago bedroom or just blurting out secrets to visitors, including Russians.
An empire of secrets is in sharp decline. For decades, the US led a global intelligence alliance. At its heart were the “Five Eyes”: the English-speaking allies from the second world war, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The “9-Eyes” was the next tier, with Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Norway; and then the “14-eyes” or “Sigint Seniors Europe”, adding Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Sweden. Other groupings and relationships, some looser, some tighter, are never made public.
Within these frameworks, allies routinely took risks for the Americans, sucked up humiliation and frustration, and dealt with egos and unreliability, because the benefits of US intelligence cooperation were greater than its costs. Twenty years ago, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, along with other countries, helped the US kidnap and torture terrorist suspects. The Danish defence intelligence service helped the National Security Agency spy on Danish and European politicians. When Edward Snowden, a renegade NSA contractor, revealed the details, a huge scandal ensued. The Danish spy chiefs responsible paid a heavy price for their Atlanticism: they were arrested, spied on, prosecuted and disgraced.
It is inconceivable that nowadays Danish spymasters would bend the rules for their American counterparts. Indeed, following Trump’s threats to Greenland, and his repeated use of economic coercion against allies, Denmark now officially categorises the US as a security threat. “America First” comes at a price.
Other countries have worries too. Four former British ambassadors to Washington highlighted the risks of intelligence-sharing in evidence to the British Parliament in March 2025. Dutch officials said in October that they no longer share Russia-related intelligence with their US counterparts. Other concerns include illegal behaviour (for example in using the navy to attack boats suspected of drug-running).
The biggest shift is in perceptions of US integrity. Amid all the supposed scandals unearthed by Snowden fifteen years ago (spy services engage in espionage, how shocking!), nothing suggested that US intelligence efforts were being used to give a commercial advantage to private businesses. Amid the growing overlap between US statecraft and the Trump clan’s personal interests, few would bet on that principle surviving long.
Hence the worries about the Patel visit to Moscow. What deals will he make? What information might he share? Countries that have trusted the US with any Russia-related secrets in the past will be worried, and rightly so. Trust accumulates over decades. And disappears so quickly.
Edward Lucas is a British writer, journalist and security specialist.
Photo credit: David Trinks on Unsplash