Chris Krebs helped create CISA during the first Trump administration.
Posted by Deadline: White House, Checked
- Sources
- 7 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Deadline: White HouseOct 20, 2026
Multiple tier1 and tier2 sources state that Chris Krebs was CISA's first director and that CISA was created under Trump's first administration (signed 2018), with Krebs appointed in 2017 and confirmed in 2018, so he helped create the agency during Trump 1.0.
What was said
… know, they didn't want them to, for example, share the findings with the voting machine vendor, so they could then pass them, which would have been their protocol. Uh You know, the bigger picture, though, is, um, I think what's happened to CISA, you know, you quoted Chris Crubbs, who had a hand in creating CISA during Trump 1.0, uh, you know, spent a lot of time trying to get the trust of the the state authorities who run these elections and did so successfully, kind of against, you know, some, some pretty high odds. …
Deadline: White House · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Krebs was the first director of CISA, which Trump signed legislation to create in 2018, and sources describe him as the agency's head from its creation (AP, Reuters, PBS).[1][2][3]
Supports. NBC and CBS report Trump appointed Krebs to lead the agency in 2017, and CBS describes him as the fired director who 'helped build' the agency after Senate confirmation in June 2018.[4][5]
Supports. The Atlantic and Register describe CISA as a stand-alone agency created by Trump during his first term, with Krebs leading it.[6][7]
Context. Sources also describe Krebs's firing in November 2020 and CISA's later decline; these do not affect whether he helped create the agency.[1][6][8]
Sources
8 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 4 tier 2, 2 not rated
- 1Trump fires agency head who vouched for 2020 vote securityapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Trump fires top U.S. election cybersecurity official who defended votereuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3Trump's firing of top election security official unsettles lawmakerspbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Trump fires head of election cybersecurity who debunked ...nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5Ousted Trump cybersecurity director debunks 2020 ...cbsnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 6How Trump Left America Vulnerable to Cyberattackstheatlantic.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 7Trump fires cybersecurity boss Chris Krebs for doing his job: Securing the election and telling the truth about ittheregister.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 8Trump Has Dismantled Federal Election Cybersecurity ...michaeldsellers.substack.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Chris Krebs served as the director of CISA.True
- Donald Trump signed CISA legislation into law that created election security architecture.True
- CISA was established by George W. Bush and Donald Trump.Mixed
- Donald Trump signed the legislation establishing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).True
- Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor stood behind the president when he signed the legislation bringing CISA into law.Can’t tell