How much does a President really KNOW??!! Are we being played??

This is more about how much did/does a president know. This post will focus more on Trump/Obama, maybe Bush 43, possible Clinton, who knows about Bush 41 and Reagan.

How much does the government really know about what's going on and how much of it can a president find out?

I mean, I think we all can agree that your phone, alexa, and so on are listening in and recording what you are saying.

Can we assume that government has as much as that ability as a private company, if not more.

Shouldn't have Obama know exactly who, if any, and how many people/foreign countries tried to /did hack into emails and voting machines. The electronic signatures will be everywhere.

Shouldn't Trump have access to EVERY email ever sent. Including Hillary's "lost" emails. Every email on Benghazi. Every email/phone call Obamamade, talking about where he was born, fast and the furious, IRS, Russia/Trump and so on.

Is it because they are all dirty, and they don't want to get covered with mud?(congressional sexual harassment payoffs) Is it because they want the people fighting among themselves about all this? If its to create in-fighting, is it just for power and money or is there more to the plan??

I think you need to keep in mind is that the Agencies that "supposedly" collect this data and comms are to themselves "closed societies" and work independently from the Whitehouse (such as NSA, FBI, CIA). So no, the Whitehouse might not have access to the data you have stated. These agencies seem to be very deep-state angled and have their own agenda that might not align with the Whitehouse's or even yours for the future of the U.S.

How much does the government really know about what's going on and how much of it can a president find out?

They know only what in their PDB's. Presidential Daily Briefings.

Intelligence officers pass it up the chain to the directors that prioritize what they think is important.

Beyond that ?

Cnn.

a reply to: SocratesJohnson

It may simply come down to what each president wants to know... and requests (demands) to know. At the most basic level, if a president doesn't know to ask, then he won't know. But I'm pretty sure a president could find out one way or another anything he wants to know and demands to know.

That may be the biggest difference with Trump. Whereas previous presidents played the same game, Trump seems to be making new rules for the game. What comes of it... what Trump's ultimate intentions are... remains to be seen.

originally posted by: SocratesJohnson
This is more about how much did/does a president know. This post will focus more on Trump/Obama, maybe Bush 43, possible Clinton, who knows about Bush 41 and Reagan.

How much does the government really know about what's going on and how much of it can a president find out?

I mean, I think we all can agree that your phone, alexa, and so on are listening in and recording what you are saying.

Can we assume that government has as much as that ability as a private company, if not more.

Shouldn't have Obama know exactly who, if any, and how many people/foreign countries tried to /did hack into emails and voting machines. The electronic signatures will be everywhere.

Shouldn't Trump have access to EVERY email ever sent. Including Hillary's "lost" emails. Every email on Benghazi. Every email/phone call Obamamade, talking about where he was born, fast and the furious, IRS, Russia/Trump and so on.

Is it because they are all dirty, and they don't want to get covered with mud?(congressional sexual harassment payoffs) Is it because they want the people fighting among themselves about all this? If its to create in-fighting, is it just for power and money or is there more to the plan??

He is a temp. No need to know our secrets...and the President past and present, don't.

The gov. runs before and during elections...it never stops.

No Prez ever did or will know anything deeply significant in the long run.

Isn't there like 10 security clearance s ABOVE the Prez?

He a temp..4-8yrs usually...and the gov never stops.

How much does the government really know about what's going on and how much of it can a president find out?

I remember hearing a story years ago about Bill who apparently when he got into office one of the things he wanted to find out about was Aliens and was pretty disappointed to find nothing of real interest.

In regards to your question, it would be impossible for one person to have all that information and process it then understand it in a way to make reasonable decisions. POTUS can never be "all knowing". Indeed there are times where there is something he might just not want to know so as to legitimately claim plausible deniability.

I also think with the way that the balances of power work, it would be difficult for the POTUS to just have unlimited access to whatever information he wanted with out it turning into some kind of wired dictatorship.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

I believe he was quoted saying, "There's a secret government inside the government and I don't control it."

originally posted by: intrepid
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

I believe he was quoted saying, "There's a secret government inside the government and I don't control it."

yeah I have heard that quote before.

I think that when it comes down to it they know stuff, there does exist a unnamed, unofficial level of power that grands individuals within a close circle some information that even the POTUS is not privy to for a host of reasons.

I would also add that its interesting to me that threads like this always ask about POTUS, I think if anyone has anything near the kind of power and access to information that the OP is suggesting then old Vlad probably would give POTUS a run for his money.

This is more about how much did/does a president know

Good start, maybe add in 'should' and even 'needn't' as caveats
How should the -"head of state" - be devolved of actionable of power ?
Those are big questions
a reply to: SocratesJohnson

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin

How much does the government really know about what's going on and how much of it can a president find out?

I remember hearing a story years ago about Bill who apparently when he got into office one of the things he wanted to find out about was Aliens and was pretty disappointed to find nothing of real interest.

In regards to your question, it would be impossible for one person to have all that information and process it then understand it in a way to make reasonable decisions. POTUS can never be "all knowing". Indeed there are times where there is something he might just not want to know so as to legitimately claim plausible deniability.

I also think with the way that the balances of power work, it would be difficult for the POTUS to just have unlimited access to whatever information he wanted with out it turning into some kind of wired dictatorship.

Correct. It was during this time that the issue of elected officials vs life time appointees came about. Many of the long term governemntal employees didn't like short term people like sitting Presidents poking around in their stuff (so to speak). From my understanding (I'm not going to defend this statement so take it as you will) Bill pushed a lot to get the "UFO Thing" exposed as a public distraction (a rallying point if you will, like how Reagan tried using it). Without a heavy hitter in the intell community like Bush sr, Bill didn't get the same responce and instead was shown the Documentary that Nixon had commissioned. He was reportedly shalen by whatever it was he was shown, and kind of crapped out on it. To the best of my understanding Hillary did not see this film.

So in the end the sitting US President has a lot of control over what he can know, but the people behind the information can push back really hard and not give him what he /she wants, or in some instances can give them more than what they want. It would be like one of us nonpolitical people asking about a car wreak, and the response is to show us the pictures of the dead bodies from it.

Hey since your UK, real question here;
How much intel does Home Office give your Prime Minister?