Former Trump White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster has warned lawmakers that US counterintelligence capabilities have fallen significantly behind the threats posed by China and Russia. He argued that Washington's near-exclusive post-9/11 focus on counterterrorism allowed rival states to substantially expand their espionage, cyber and influence operations largely unchecked, describing America's counterintelligence record over that period as "extraordinarily negligent."

McMaster told lawmakers "the counterintelligence threat is like, way behind," pointing to how Beijing and Moscow have exploited gaps in US oversight of technology and investment to advance their intelligence-gathering efforts. His remarks highlight growing concern in Washington that decades of prioritising terrorism-related threats have left the country exposed to more sophisticated state-level espionage and cyber campaigns.