The Trump administration is seeking to compile a master list of foreign intelligence targets, including suspected spies and potential recruits, a move that has met resistance from senior FBI and CIA officials who fear it could jeopardise sensitive investigations and intelligence operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
The initiative, led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), has intensified in recent months as the agency seeks the identities of foreign espionage targets from U.S. intelligence services, Caliber.Az reports, citing US media.
Officials at the FBI and CIA have questioned the need for the database, warning that centralising such highly sensitive information could create security risks.
According to people familiar with the discussions, the effort has made little progress because officials remain divided over how the database would be created, maintained and secured.
The proposal has also highlighted tensions between the ODNI and the FBI and CIA. The office is now led on an acting basis by Bill Pulte, a housing official with no previous intelligence experience, after former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard pursued President Donald Trump's priorities, including workforce cuts and reviews of election fraud allegations.
For the FBI, the database would include individuals under counterintelligence investigation who could eventually face prosecution. For the CIA, it would contain information on potential intelligence assets and other highly sensitive operational targets.
Responding to the report, an FBI spokesman said the bureau was working with other intelligence agencies "to open the books for the American people in historic ways," as part of a broader transparency effort under FBI Director Kash Patel. The CIA declined to comment.
An official from Pulte's office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the ODNI was implementing National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 issued during Trump's first term. The official said improving intelligence collaboration and information sharing was required by law and would strengthen intelligence operations.
Supporters of the proposal envision a system similar to a terrorist watch list that would allow agencies to track foreign intelligence threats in real time. However, current and former officials warned that broader information sharing could increase the risk of exposing sensitive investigations, while some relevant intelligence collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is subject to strict legal limits on disclosure.
The memorandum instructs agencies to "lawfully identify, integrate and make available thorough, accurate and timely national security threat actor information" and to "maintain and make available evaluated national security threat actor information" within "relevant" secure systems.
The dispute has remained behind closed doors as intelligence agencies continue negotiating how much information should be shared. Some former officials said the initiative began as an effort to strengthen oversight across the intelligence community, while resistance from the FBI and CIA reflected their longstanding reluctance to allow greater oversight of covert programmes. Some officials said they hoped the acting director would eventually abandon the proposal.
By Aghakazim Guliyev
