President Donald Trump has finally said the quiet part out loud about why he promoted a MAGA attack dog to be the nation’s spy chief: to gut America’s intelligence community.
Days after elevating housing executive Bill Pulte to the role of acting Director of National intelligence, Trump said he wants the loyalist to start sacking staff and shrinking the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the agency created after 9/11 to coordinate America’s 18 intelligence agencies.
Trump described the office as “unnecessary and/or too big,” telling The Wall Street Journal: “I’d like to see it smaller.”
“I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” he added, referencing staff appointed under the Biden and Obama administrations.
The comments came after Trump made a surprise announcement on Thursday by declaring that Pulte—a real-estate heir with no national-security background—wouldn’t be in the role permanently.
This came after days of backlash, including within Republican ranks. But in an ominous sign, the president told reporters that Pulte would also have another role to play as acting director: to “find out some things about the rigged elections” and other topics on Trump’s agenda.
Under the law, Pulte can serve in the role in acting capacity for 210 days—more than enough to take him through to the midterm elections in November, which critics fear Trump is trying to game.
Trump added to these fears in his interview with The Wall Street Journal by explaining why he chose Pulte as an acting official rather than nominating him permanently.
“You’re less shackled,” he said. “It sort of gives you more power.”
“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump said of the potential agency overhaul.
“Because, if he reduced the size, in conjunction with me…and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in…he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn’t have to saddle somebody that goes in.”
The remarks signal a potential bloodbath at the ODNI in the wake of Tulsi Gabbard standing down after her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
“Bill Pulte is a great pick to be the acting DNI,” said Trump’s office of budget management director Russ Vought, who earned the nickname “Grim Reaper” for his own push to gut government agencies.
“He is fearless and aggressive and will do everything he can from that position to continue Tulsi’s work to reform the intel community!”
But not everyone was impressed, including Trump loyalist Laura Loomer.
“The news that President Trump directed @pulte to issue mass firings in the Intel community is bullshit and just a talking point given that Pulte isn’t even Acting DNI. Is everyone forgetting @TulsiGabbard is still there till June 30th?" she wrote on X.
“Trump may have said this, but it won’t happen. Why doesn’t Trump have Tulsi issue the firings? Oh yah. That’s right. Because everyone who needs to be fired was a Tulsi hire.”
Pulte, 38, is the grandson of William J. Pulte, the billionaire founder of homebuilding giant PulteGroup.
He currently serves as the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and chairman of mortgage financing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - positions Trump says he will maintain as he juggles his new role as acting director.
But he has used those roles to target Trump’s adversaries with mortgage fraud, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook and California Sen. Adam Schiff.
The MAGA firebrand has even riled up Trump allies, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who confirmed to senators this week that the pair had a heated argument last year.
At the time, it was widely reported that Bessent had told Pulte: “I’m gonna punch you in your f------g face” after hearing the housing director had bad mouthed him to Trump.
But Bessent corrected the record on Wednesday, telling Republican Sen. Tom Tillis under questioning: “I actually said I was going to kick his a--.”
“Good. Okay. Good. I share the emotion,” responded Tillis.
Trump, however, has defended his acting DNI as someone who is “very smart” and “a person who’s got high integrity.”
Asked on Friday if he had anyone in mind for the job, he said there were “five different people” he was interviewing.
“All very good; all people that you know well,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “All people that do that kind of thing.”
