'He's a stiff who answered to deep staters': Trump's withering rebuke of former DNI Dan Coats for saying he thought Russians had dirt on him

President Donald Trump unloaded on his former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats Thursday when he got asked about the revelation his former spy chief thought the Russians 'had something' on Trump. 

Trump was asked about the topic in an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on his radio show. Kilmeade brought up journalist Bob Woodward's new book, Rage, which states that Coats 'continued to harbor the secret belief, one that had grown rather than lessened, although unsupported by intelligence proof, that Putin had something on Trump.'

'How else to explain the president's behavior?' Woodward wrote. 'Coats could see no other explanation.'

President Donald Trump on Thursday attacked former DNI Dan Coats in a radio interview as a 'stiff' following Bob Woodward' revelation Coats thought the Russians 'had something' on Trump

Trump immediately attacked Coats, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany and a former U.S. senator from Indiana, as a 'stiff.'

'Dan is a stiff. Dan would sit there all day long at a meeting and he wouldn't ever say anything,' the president complained.

'All of as sudden he becomes this thing,' he said, adding: 'Dan was not suited for this job.'

He also said of Coats 'He was a mistake. He didn't do anything.'

Former DNI Dan Coats 'continued to harbor the secret belief, one that had grown rather than lessened, although unsupported by intelligence proof, that Putin had something on Trump,' write journalist Bob Woodward

Trump has repeatedly defended Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for better relations with Moscow

The plans for Trump Tower Moscow included an architect's drawing of a glass obelisk 100 stories high that would be the tallest building in Europe and branded multiple times with Donald Trump's logo, it was revealed on Tuesday. The drawing shows a fuller version of the project than Trump's team indicated. Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney, claimed the project hadn't gone beyond a letter of intent and 'no plans were ever made. But architectural plans and business documents obtained by Buzzfeed News show an architect's drawing of a gleaming glass tower along side the Moscow River topped by a diamond-like shape emblazoned on multiple sides with the Trump logo.

When it came to leveling a substantive charge, Trump blasted fault for failing to accuse the Obama administration of 'spying' on his campaign. He then praised Coats' successor, Trump loyalist and former GOP House member John Ratcliffe. Trump also heaped praise on former acting DNI Ric Grenell, who during his short tenure release documents from the last days of the Obama administration about 'unmasking' 

'A lot of things took place that he should have revealed about the previous administration. He didn't reveal that they spied on my campaign,' Trump said. 

Trump said Grenell was 'great' and 'largely cleaned out the place.'

Trump called Ratcliffe 'have somebody fantastic.' 

Brian Kilmeade

Woodward's book did not provide specifics on what leverage Coats believed the Russians held over Trump. The president has repeatedly praised Russia and defended Russian Vladimir Putin. 

Trump famously defended Putin during their 2018 summit meeting in Helsinki where Putin denied interfering in the U.S. elections.

'President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be,' Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Russia probe as a 'witch hunt,' and has blasted the Steele dossier, which claimed Russians held 'kompromat' over Trump and presented unverified claims about Trump's alleged conduct with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room. 

Trump repeatedly denied having any business in Russia during the campaign, but during his tenure in office old plans for a proposed Trump tower in Moscow were revealed.