Politics / Donald Trump Trump Picks His National Intelligence Director Former senator Dan Coats gets the gig By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Jan 5, 2017 2:46 PM CST Copied FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2016 file photo, then-Indiana Sen. Dan Coats on Capitol Hill in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump is planning to appoint former Coats as Director of National Intelligence. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) Donald Trump will appoint former Indiana Senator Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence, the AP reports. The pick could be announced later this week, according to a person briefed Thursday on the decision. Coats is a conservative who spent 16 years in the Senate. He announced his retirement last year and did not seek re-election. Trump's decision comes as he has been sharply critical of the nation's intelligence agencies and has cast doubt about their conclusion that Russia was behind hacking to influence last year's elections. Trump on Friday will meet with directors of the FBI and CIA, as well as current DNI James Clapper to be briefed on their findings. (More Donald Trump stories.) Report an error