President Donald Trump has fast-tracked one of his top loyalists’ new roles.
The 79-year-old announced on Tuesday that Bill Pulte will be replacing Tulsi Gabbard as Acting Director of National Intelligence on June 19th, almost two weeks earlier than expected.
“William Pulte, who is working closely with Tulsi Gabbard, will be taking over as Acting Director of National Intelligence on Friday, June 19th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He will remain as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac.”
The president named Pulte to the position on June 2 after Gabbard announced her decision to resign from the role in May, citing her husband’s bone cancer diagnosis. Gabbard was not initially expected to step down until June 30.
Trump’s announcement comes after reports from insiders suggested the president was already looking for replacements for Pulte, with two Republicans telling Politico that Trump has already met with others about the role.
Pulte, 38, has no experience in intelligence, but has served as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 2025, roles the president confirmed he will maintain while serving in his new position.
He is the grandson of William J. Pulte, the billionaire founder of homebuilding giant PulteGroup and a diehard Trump loyalist, which is the chief reason he was chosen to succeed Gabbard, according to a report.
Controversial Republican political consultant Roger Stone, who spent 40 months in prison on charges of witness tampering, obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to Congress, reportedly encouraged the president to appoint Pulte to the role, Semafor reported earlier this month, believing that a loyalist would best execute Trump’s vision.
The president’s plan for Pulte’s first job overseeing the Office of the Director of National Intelligence could include shrinking it. “I’d like to see it smaller,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal of the department, describing it as “unnecessary and/or too big.”
“I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” he added, referring to staff appointed by his Democratic predecessors.
“He’s like a bulldozer,” one source familiar with the situation told Semafor, referring to Pulte. “Bulldoze the bureaucracy and accelerate document releases and declassifications.”
Democrats like David Axelrod have warned that Pulte is unqualified for the role, with the former Obama strategist writing on X following the announcement of his appointment, “Pulte’s an unqualified errand boy whose only experience w/spying is spying on the @POTUS’s perceived ‘enemies,‘ rummaging through their mortgage documents as head of FHA, looking for dirt. It was a total abuse of his authority there.”
Responding to the backlash, the president quickly backtracked, telling reporters on June 4 that Pulte was only going to be serving “in an acting position”.
Despite that, he stressed that Pulte was likely to “find out some things about the rigged elections,” adding, “It’s short term, but he may be very effective for a short period of time.”
“He’s got lot of energy, but again, it’s not a permanent position,” Trump said. “We’re interviewing people right now. It’s somebody just to take it over for a little while.”
