Trump Names New Acting DNI After Pulte Withdraws

President Trump said Thursday that Bill Pulte will not receive a permanent nomination as Director of National Intelligence and that the administration is interviewing other candidates for the position. Trump made the remarks while taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office.

Pulte has been serving as acting Director of National Intelligence while continuing in his role as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The DNI position oversees 18 federal agencies involved in intelligence related to domestic and foreign security issues and requires Senate confirmation.

According to multiple reports citing the same remarks, Trump stated “We’re interviewing people right now.” He did not name specific candidates or a timeline for a permanent selection. The sources contain no statements from Trump linking the DNI role to reviews of past elections.

Pulte’s predecessor as DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned last month citing her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis. One source noted that Gabbard had attended an FBI search of an election center in Fulton County, Georgia, earlier this year. No sources in the bundle describe any connection between that event and Pulte’s interim role.

The bundle contains no direct quotes from Trump or administration officials characterizing Pulte’s performance in the acting position, nor any official statements on why an interim DNI without intelligence credentials was initially placed in the role. The sources do not include any Pentagon, ODNI or White House statements affirming or denying internal friction regarding Pulte.