DOWN THE LADDER

MAGA Architect Pushes Wild Replacement Amid Revolt Against Trump Goon

Trump’s former chief strategist has already picked his preferred successor for DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

Steve Bannon is leading the charge to install a Trump loyalist known as “Little Trump” atop the Department of Homeland Security amid a growing MAGA revolt against Markwayne Mullin.

A MAGA firestorm has engulfed Mullin, who replaced the fired Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem as DHS secretary in March but has since infuriated Donald Trump’s base for purportedly trying to appease Democrats and undermine the president’s mass deportation campaign.

Bannon, the president’s former chief strategist, piled on to the MAGA backlash against Mullin, 49, on Monday, telling Politico’s Playbook, “Mullin is the wrong guy at the wrong time for the wrong job—a time when we need focus on ‘mass deportations,’ we get an amnesty advocate.”

The host of the War Room podcast floated Bill Pulte, who until Monday served as acting Director of National Intelligence, to replace Mullin at the DHS, referring to him by the nickname he has earned in MAGA circles for his reputation as a loyal Trump attack dog.

“MAGA wants President Trump to detail ‘Pitbull’ Pulte to DHS,” Bannon said.

Pulte, 38, has ingratiated himself with Trump by aggressively targeting the president’s enemies, first as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and then as acting director of national intelligence.

ON THE ROCKS

MAGA Turns on Trump’s DHS Chief in Furious Revolt

Ewan Palmer

However, the billionaire homebuilding heir is newly out of his top national intelligence role. Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, was sworn in as the permanent director of national intelligence on Monday, after being confirmed by the Senate last week.

Pulte, whose social media posts often mimic Trump’s unusual syntax and capitalization, had urged the president to delay Clayton’s swearing-in and wanted to stay in the DNI role longer, a White House official told Playbook last week.

Play Video

The official said Pulte argued that he needed more time to complete his aggressive layoffs at the agency, telling Trump that he is “doing things nobody else will do, and that’s why he needs to stay in the job longer.”

While Clayton was ultimately sworn in, multiple people close to the White House told Playbook that Trump and Pulte are close.

“The president really loves him,” one official said, raising the possibility that Pulte could land another Cabinet-level role in the future.

When reached for comment, the White House did not comment on Bannon’s suggestion that Pulte replace Mullin.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast, “The President has confidence in Secretary Mullin and his entire Administration to carry out the agenda the American people voted for.”

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which is still led by Pulte, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pulte’s time in the Trump administration has been marked by his limited experience. In the years before his eyebrow-raising ascent in MAGAworld, Pulte spent his time stoking the hopes of meme-stock investors who wrongly believed he would miraculously resurrect the bankrupt retail chain Bed Bath & Beyond.

Play Video

Along the way, Pulte engaged in bizarre antics, like hosting an event in which a man was slapped on stage with a sex toy. His shameless self-promotion led him to be pushed off the board of Pulte Homes, the construction giant founded by his now-deceased grandfather, in 2020, according to The New York Times.

Mullin sparked the MAGA revolt last month after he ordered a temporary halt to the practice of stopping people in their vehicles after ICE agents shot and killed two unarmed people within the space of a few days, only for Trump to reverse the policy.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Erkki ForsterNight News Reporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.