During his visit to the CIA on Saturday, US President Donald Trump told the employees, whose work he has publicly doubted, that no one feels stronger about the intelligence community than he does.
"I met [Mike Pompeo] and I said, 'He is so good.' ... People like him, but much more importantly to me, everybody respects him... You will be getting a total star, you're going to be getting a total gem. This is a gem," Trump said. "You'll see... And many of you know him anyways, but you're going to see.
"If I had to name the most important, this would certainly be perhaps...my most important... If you give...the right direction, boy does the fighting become easier, and boy do we lose so fewer and win so quickly.
"I am with you 1000%, and the reason you're my first stop is that as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth.
"And they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. And I just want you to know, the reason you're my first stop is exactly the opposite.
"I like honest reporting... I love you, I respect you, there's nobody I respect more. You're going to do a fantastic job and we're going to start winning again and we're going to be leading the charge. So thank you all very much," he concluded.
The CIA visit was Trump's first after his inauguration on Friday afternoon.