The man Donald Trump tapped to oversee the United States’ intelligence agencies is also the man behind the president’s now-infamous AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ—something critics were quick to point out.
The president, 79, announced Tuesday that Bill Pulte, the small but mighty Trump attack dog and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would succeed ousted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post of Pulte, the 5’8 loudmouth who has been dubbed “Lil’ Trump” for his shameless tactics.
“During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!”
What Trump didn’t mention is that Pulte, the grandson of billionaire homebuilding mogul William J. Pulte, has grown into one of the most controversial of his appointees. Most recently, it was reported that Trump, 79, had discussed the blasphemous, now-deleted post depicting himself as Christ with Pulte.
Two advisers who spoke to the president about the picture told Axios that Pulte, 37, brought up the image to Trump while the two were in South Florida together over the weekend, though it was unclear whether Pulte pulled it up on his phone or sent it directly to the president.
“Everyone thought it was a joke,” one adviser said.
However, another adviser who is cozy with Pulte told Axios that the housing finance chief and Mar-a-Lago club member did not give the meme to Trump. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for clarification.
The image, posted to Truth Social in April, shows a holy Trump laying his hand on a patient in a hospital bed as if healing him. He is surrounded by other figures, including a nurse, a soldier, and a praying woman. Also visible are the U.S. flag, several bald eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and the Lincoln Memorial.
After the post sparked a firestorm, the president bizarrely claimed it was an image of him as a “doctor making people better.”
“As a reminder Bill Pulte was the one who recommended Trump post the picture of himself as Jesus,” one X user who identified themselves as Jim Stewartson wrote on Tuesday. “America is a FAILED STATE.We are absolutely f--ed until we get this demented old man out of the White House. We are a sitting duck.”
Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau chimed in with a few more of Pulte’s so-called accomplishments. “America’s new spy chief: Investigated for manufacturing fake mortgage fraud allegations; Responsible for Trump’s AI Jesus post; Treasury Secretary told him, ‘I’m gonna punch you in your f---ing face” and “I’m going to beat your f--g a-s.”
Pulte has also clashed with fellow Trump allies, tangling with Scott Bessent at a dinner hosted by Donald Trump Jr., Politico reported. The Treasury secretary had heard that Pulte was badmouthing him to the president behind his back and became so angry he threatened to punch Pulte “in the f--king face.”
At the time, White House insiders told the New York Post that they would not put their money on Pulte.
“The general consensus in the White House is that Scott would have beat that little midget’s a-- and everyone would have paid big money to watch it happen,” a source told the outlet.
Still, it’s not difficult to see why the president, who values loyalty above all else, favors him. The Justice Department’s stunning move to target Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell with a criminal probe, for one, was largely due to Pulte’s pressure campaign, Bloomberg reported earlier this year. The Trump appointee also oversaw a mortgage-fraud investigation into Trump nemesis Sen. Adam Schiff.
