President Donald Trump on Friday expressed hope that acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte would be able to reduce the size of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and make significant changes to the intelligence community.Trump appointed Pulte to the role to take over for the outgoing Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down after her husband’s cancer diagnosis. Pulte previously served as the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHSA) and had no prior experience in intelligence roles. He also will remain in charge of the FHSA while at ODNI.
“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal. “Because, if he reduced the size, in conjunction with me […] he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn’t have to saddle somebody that goes in.”
“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” he said of ODNI. Trump also suggested that Pulte’s service in an acting capacity would give him more leeway to make big decisions.
Trump’s ODNI has faced considerable scrutiny, especially amid the Iran war. Gabbard, a known skeptic of foreign interventions, directly faced inquiries as to whether she supported Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. One of her top deputies, Joe Kent, resigned publicly over his opposition to the conflict.
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.
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