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President-elect Donald Trump has a well-established reputation for taking public pot shots at his opponents before sitting down privately to smooth things over.

Whether this tactic will negatively affect his relationship with the US intelligence community that serves him is now in question.

In recent days he has called the assessment that Russia intervened in the US election in his favor 鈥渞idiculous鈥� and dismissed the presidential daily intelligence briefings 鈥� which incoming presidents have used to get up to speed on complex issues 鈥� as tiresome and repetitive.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years,鈥� he told Fox News. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 need that.鈥�

So, how damaging is his latest scuffle with the intelligence community 鈥� and is the presidential daily brief (known as the PDB) really that boring?

That Mr. Trump has picked a public fight with the intelligence analysts reporting to him is 鈥渁 pretty big deal,鈥� says Gary Schmitt, co-director of the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

鈥淵ou may not like them, or even trust them, but to openly pick a fight with them right off the bat is to bring a motherlode of trouble if you want to be an effective administrator,鈥� says Mr. Schmitt, a former staff director for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Not that presidents don鈥檛 disagree with their intelligence analysts. This happens privately 鈥渁ll the time,鈥� he adds, recalling that when he was brought into the Reagan administration, it was his job precisely to 鈥渃riticize and improve the efforts of the intel community.鈥�

鈥淚 was seen as somebody who had something critical to say about everything,鈥� he says.

That is as it should be, he adds. Senior policymakers, including the president, 鈥渁re absolutely right to say, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not a fact you鈥檙e giving me. It鈥檚 an analysis,鈥� 鈥� Schmitt adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very large bureaucracy with all sorts of different personalities 鈥� but [to criticize them] publicly, no.鈥�

Heated debates, in private

Julianne Smith, who served as both deputy and acting National Security Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, recalls heated debates in the privacy of the White House situation room.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e always welcome to disagree on specific points, and that happens all the time,鈥� she says.

鈥淏ut to have the president take a public stance and discredit an entire agency writ large is nothing short of breathtaking,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a longstanding bipartisan view that the men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis try to provide the best intelligence possible. It鈥檚 almost taboo to call that into question.鈥�

Rather than blast the intelligence coming from the briefers or dismiss the PDB as tedious, it is possible instead to ask them to delve deeper on a matter, or get more specific, or bring the new president or staff members up to speed on a particularly complicated intelligence matter, she adds.

鈥淲hen I came into government, I could say, 鈥楲isten, I鈥檓 not particularly well-versed on all the rebel groups in Syria,鈥欌�� and request in-depth briefings.

The daily intelligence briefings are tailor-made for those with intellectual curiosity, and can serve as a tasking mechanism. 鈥淗aving people come in and being able to answer any question you can think of 鈥� that鈥檚 pretty cool,鈥� says James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun 鈥� it鈥檚 a perk.鈥�

Building blocks for policy

That said, sometimes the daily briefings can also include more obvious points, and they can get repetitive, Mr. Lewis and others concede.

鈥淲e used to laugh about it, that 80 percent of the stuff in the PDB you can get from open source,鈥� like newspapers, he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that remaining 10 or 20 percent that鈥檚 critical stuff.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not always right, and it鈥檚 not always the most interesting thing you鈥檝e ever heard. Some briefers can be dry, others make it so fascinating that you never want them to leave your office,鈥� Ms. Smith adds. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that themes repeat. When you鈥檙e in the middle of a war, you get a lot on that war. But you can also walk in in the morning and there鈥檚 breaking news.鈥�

Rather than sit through it every morning, Trump has said his 鈥済enerals鈥� are being briefed. So is Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Beyond that, Trump added, 鈥淚f something should change from this point,鈥� staff can 鈥渋mmediately call me.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 approach to date fits a pattern. 鈥淲hat he鈥檚 been adamant to message is that he鈥檚 not going with mainstream analysis, group thinking, the elites 鈥� he鈥檚 not going to align himself with Washington,鈥� Smith says.

The problem is that the intelligence community doesn鈥檛 make policy, 鈥渂ut certainly provides you with the building blocks for making policy. One wonders: What will be Trump鈥檚 building blocks? He鈥檚 about to take over Washington. If you discredit the generals, the Congress, and the intelligence community, what鈥檚 left?鈥�

It could be that Trump is waiting to get his own people into place in the intelligence agencies, Lewis says.

鈥淚f he鈥檚 not getting the PDB now, it鈥檚 not the end of the world. The thing to watch is his first year in office.... What people say before they鈥檙e president, and what they say after, often changes abruptly.鈥�

Partisanship decried

Yet the idea of Trump first getting his own people into place before he feels comfortable with intelligence agencies undercuts what should be a bipartisan or non-partisan realm, says Mike McNerney, a cybersecurity specialist and former Army officer who interacted frequently with Central Intelligence Agency analysts.

鈥淚 saw a CNN show where the Republican guy was saying, 鈥榃e talk to our own intelligence guys,鈥欌�� about the Russian hacking. 鈥淭hat worries me about the loss of faith in intelligence agencies. It used to be fairly bipartisan or non-partisan.鈥�

For those laboring on the ground and in war zones to produce the intelligence, the seemingly聽partisan nature of Trump鈥檚 remarks have been disheartening, Mr. McNerney says.

鈥淭he people I鈥檝e spoken with are feeling pretty bummed about it. If you鈥檙e going into what鈥檚 already a thankless job, one of the things that keeps you going is the thought that you鈥檙e making a difference, and that what you鈥檙e collecting and providing is being appreciated by the president, frankly,鈥� he says.

鈥淲hen that part goes away 鈥� when what you work hard for and in many cases put your life on the line to get is being politicized 鈥� you have people asking, 鈥榃hy am I doing this? I could go work for Google.鈥欌��