Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte, speaks to reporters at the White House, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-06-05T17:53:40Z<\/p>\n
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump said on Friday that he wants Bill Pulte<\/a><\/span>, his new acting director of national intelligence, to cut the office, which has already been significantly scaled back during his second term.<\/p>\n Trump noted that the size of the office as been \u201cway too high for way too long\u201d and that \u201cif he cut, I wouldn\u2019t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBill Pulte is very good, he\u2019s very talented,\u201d Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Wisconsin. The Republican president said in an earlier interview with The Wall Street Journal that he has asked Pulte to start the process of firing employees.<\/p>\n In the interview with the Journal, the president says he has already conveyed his view to Pulte, the incoming acting DNI, who has served as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency but apparently has no national security expertise.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn\u2019t be there,\u201d Trump said, which the Journal said was in reference to intelligence community officials who had served in the Democratic administrations of Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.<\/p>\n Trump told the Journal that he wants Pulte to \u201cstart the process\u201d of firing personnel and that the eventual permanent director of national intelligence should continue it. The president has indicated that he would not formally nominate Pulte<\/a><\/span> for the position. <\/p>\n