Concern about China is not partisan anymore, pretty much everyone is on board now.

Also from the article: "Officials said the agency was not bending its views to a new boss, and that the new assessment had been in the works for some time."

But we know Trump lies, and that people around him change their story and lie for him, and we know he gets rid of personnel who don't 'kiss the ring'... and this comes at the exact instant that he says he's going to start his import tariffs for Chinese goods and needs media support to convince USA-ians that making all goods coming from China now expensive is a good idea...

I mean you're going to need extraordinary evidence to show this is true; but CIA say there's no new evidence and it's a low confidence conclusion.

Probability that it's just Trump continuing to be deceitful and manipulative approaches certainty.

Trump can nominate a CIA director, but cannot appoint a CIA director.

Once a CIA director gets confirmed, they can influence hiring decisions at the CIA, but that takes time.

This was investigated for a long while before Trump was even president. This was started under Biden.

Trump doesn't have that many people left to convince that China is problematic.

The CIA isn't the first to conclude this, but also the FBI and the DoE. Both of their reports came out under the Biden administration.

This doesn't appear to be a new trend or a dramatic shift in conclusion as a result of Trump becoming president.

Every thing wrong or suspicious in the world is not suddenly Trump's fault. This is trump derangement syndrome.

Are they really anti-china? Or are they just trying to shake down China for some cash?

There is now a broad consensus across the national security establishment and the leadership of both major political parties that China must be treated as an adversary. Attempts at constructive engagement failed so now we have to pivot to containment in Cold War 2. This is a strategic issue that transcends money.

Agreed. But the president's sudden 180 on the tiktok ban leaves me questioning his motives.

If this is true some of it may have been funded by the US, so it makes both countries look bad.

Trump (and Elon) are actually fairly pro-China. Or at least, Trump and Xi have a good relationship (and Trump was quoted last month as believing the US and China can solve many problems together), and Elon loves China.

They’re pro-themselves. China could bankrupt Musk at the stroke of a pen by kicking Tesla out, so he’s effectively their foreign agent. Trump wants bribes, and he has leverage via his unchecked power over tariffs. He even opened a convenient collection box via his cryptocurrency.

They’re well-oiled grift machines.