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On the surface, few Trump nominees have been less qualified for the roles they’ve been appointed to than Bill Pulte. Pulte’s entire career has focused on investing in the housing market, as opposed to anything to do with intelligence, and was marked by failure. He was granted a seat on the board of his grandfather’s company but was forced out four years later after his social media activity caused problems for the company’s brand. Since then, he has occupied himself with posting tweets (many of which he deleted following his nomination to his first post in the Trump Administration as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), boosting meme stocks such as Bed Bath and Beyond, and failing to properly maintain the rental properties he owns despite tenant complaints. Pulte’s activities as head of the FHFA, however, reveal the reason for his selection by Trump. From demanding the firing of then-Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and sending the Justice Department criminal referrals against Democrats who investigated Trump, Pulte has acted as an attack dog for Trump’s agenda in his role. He leveraged the information he had access to as FHFA director to contribute to refer criminal charges for mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James, then-Representative Eric Swalwell, Senator Adam Schiff, and Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis as well as Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. He also has not developed policies to alleviate the affordability crisis Americans face in the housing market, despite this being his job. For Trump, Pulte’s loyalty and willingness to leverage his position were the central reason he was offered the position of Director of National Intelligence; Trump has explicitly said that Pulte may be investigating “irregularities” with the midterms. Pulte’s appointment should concern anyone who values free and fair elections. |
¶ Pulte Was Unqualified To Be Director Of National Intelligence
¶ Pulte Has No Intelligence Or Foreign Policy Experience
Pulte’s Career Was Entirely Focused On Real Estate, Investment, And Philanthropy, With No Intelligence Background. According to his bio on the FHFA website, “On March 14, 2025, William J. Pulte was sworn in as the 5th Director of U.S. Federal Housing, following his nomination by U.S. President Donald J. Trump and bipartisan confirmation by the U.S. Senate. In this role, Pulte oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Before his appointment, Pulte had a longstanding career in homebuilding, housing products, and community development. In 2011, Pulte founded Pulte Capital Partners LLC, an investment firm that focuses on building and housing products. He also served on the board of Pulte Homes, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest homebuilders in the country. Beyond business, Pulte is recognized for his philanthropy. Pulte founded the Blight Authority, a nonprofit organization dedicated to removing urban blight in Detroit, MI, St. Louis, MO, and Pontiac, MI. Pulte also started Twitter philanthropy, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to numerous causes directly on Twitter (now X), and engaging millions of followers in the process.” [Federal Housing Finance Agency, accessed 6/4/26]
June 3, 2026: Senator Mitch McConnell Said That The Director Of National Intelligence Must Have “Extensive National Security Experience” In A Jab At Pulte. According to The Hill, “Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned on Wednesday that any person tapped to serve as director of national intelligence (DNI) must have ‘extensive national security experience,’ sending a pointed message to President Trump after he tapped Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte for the nation’s top intelligence job.” [The Hill, 6/3/26]
Pulte Never Commented On Matters Of Intelligence Or Foreign Policy On His Social Media. A search of Bill Pulte’s Twitter returned no commentary on Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, Iran, China, Taiwan, North Korea, Venezuela, Putin, Netanyahu, Khamenei, Xi, Kim, or Maduro. [Twitter, @Pulte, viewed 6/10/26]
¶ Pulte’s Real Estate Career Was Built On Nepotism And Ultimately Failed
2025: Pulte Used His Family’s Business To Bolster His Credentials Despite No Longer Being Affiliated, Having Been Pushed Off The Board In 2020. According to The New York Times, “‘You know, my family’s legacy company is based in Georgia,’ he told Senator Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, at the hearing in late February. ‘Atlanta has been very good to our family.’ But Mr. Pulte, 37, no longer has any official connection to PulteGroup, which has built 800,000 homes across the country since the 1950s. He was pushed off the company’s board in 2020 after being elected to a seat several times since 2016. And his family’s $500 million charitable foundation, run by an aunt and his father, issued a statement two years ago saying that ‘Bill Pulte does not represent, nor is he a spokesperson for, all members of the Pulte family, in any capacity.’” [New York Times, 11/14/25]
- 2016: Pulte Was Installed On The Board Of PulteGroup By His Grandfather, Provoking Anger Among Other Board Members Who Viewed Him As Unqualified. According to The New York Times, “It worked; the company’s chief executive resigned, Elliott was given three board seats and the elder Mr. Pulte got one seat. He picked his grandson to represent him on the board. For the younger Mr. Pulte, this was a sign that he was the only member of the family his grandfather trusted to help run PulteGroup, according to an e-book he wrote about his grandfather. But some of Mr. Pulte’s fellow board members viewed his appointment as a necessary concession to the grandfather, two people familiar with the board’s thinking said. Other directors bristled at installing the founder’s grandson, who had never worked at a large corporation, these people said. To them, the appointment seemed inconsistent with Elliott’s efforts to bring more professional expertise to the board.” [New York Times, 11/14/25]
- 2020: The Company’s Board Pushed Pulte Out Due To His Conflation Of The Business With His Personal Charity Social Media Account. According to The New York Times, “During Twitter Philanthropy’s first year, Mr. Pulte’s followers had swelled from roughly 30,000 to 1.8 million, the memo said. Board members also were unnerved to learn that Mr. Pulte had reserved the rights to 150 internet domain names featuring the word ‘Pulte.’ The general counsel, according to the memo, believed that some of those names should belong to the company. Part of the problem was that Mr. Pulte’s Twitter handle was @pulte. Several board members and executives asked Mr. Pulte to use an alternative, such as @Billpulte. The general counsel explained in the memo that Mr. Pulte, as a board member, had ‘duties of loyalty and candor’ to the company. But Mr. Pulte stuck with @pulte. Eventually, some of the directors became fed up with Mr. Pulte’s self-promotion, according to the two people familiar with the board’s thinking. With the founder gone, there was little reason to keep his grandson on the board. The company decided not to nominate Mr. Pulte for another term starting in 2020. In a lawsuit against a former company executive, Mr. Pulte said the board had raised the issues with his social media handle in an effort to push him out because it didn’t like his disruptive style.” [New York Times, 11/14/25]
Residents In Pulte’s Trailer-Park Rental Properties Said They Were Poorly Maintained With Bad Renter Services. According to The New York Times, “Documents show Mr. Pulte was the signatory on a $2 million mortgage taken out on three of the properties in August 2024. The woman listed as an agent on some of the mobile home parks also works in his charitable organization. In January 2024, he told an interviewer on an investing podcast that the ‘Pulte Family’ was buying mobile home parks and planning to revamp them amid a market of rising rents. In the same interview, Mr. Pulte said he planned to make them into ‘nice communities.’ But his companies have been slow to make repairs, said residents of three of the parks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution. A resident of one property, in Lake Worth in Palm Beach County, said he had gone months without a working stove, despite asking the management company to fix it. Another resident said he had spent $300 to repair his broken air-conditioning unit. Some trailer park leases warn tenants that if they miss rent payments, which are due weekly, ‘they will be removed for trespassing by the local sheriff!!’” [New York Times, 11/14/25]
¶ Pulte’s Social Media Activity Was Extremist And Unprofessional
May 12, 2026: Pulte Reposted Donald Trump’s Call To Make Venezuela The 51st State. On Twitter, Bill Pulte reposted:
[Twitter, @WhiteHouse, 5/12/26]
January 8, 2022: On Facebook, Bill Pulte Posted “If You Have Haters, It Is Because You Are Doing Something Impactful! Keep Going!”
[Facebook, Bill Pulte, 1/8/22]
2024-2025: Pulte Deleted 25,000 Posts Made On Social Media, Including Those Publicly Feuding With His Family. According to The New York Times, “Mr. Pulte has spent years battling with his aunt, the foundation’s president, over his grandfather’s legacy and other issues. In social media posts he has called her ‘totally fake and phony’ and has written that she ‘defecates’ about him and his late grandfather’s legacy on the foundation website. [...] Many of Mr. Pulte’s most outlandish posts on Twitter and later X were deleted. Shortly after the Senate Banking Committee took up his nomination, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a top Democrat on the committee, asked Mr. Pulte to provide access to the roughly 25,000 tweets that had been deleted during the few weeks after Mr. Trump’s re-election. He never complied.” [New York Times, 11/14/25]
¶ Pulte Used Social Media To Advocate Persecution Of Trump’s Enemies
¶ Jerome Powell
July 16, 2025: Pulte Urged Jerome Powell To Resign On Twitter. On Twitter, Bill Pulte posted:
[Twitter, @Pulte, 7/16/25]
July 11, 2025: Pulte Posted An Official Statement In His Capacity As FHFA Director Celebrating False Rumors Of Jerome Powell’s Resignation. On Twitter, Bill Pulte posted: “Statement from Chairman of the Board of Fannie Mae on Reports that Jerome Powell Is Considering Resigning Washington, D.C. - ‘I'm encouraged by reports that Jerome Powell is considering resigning. I think this will be the right decision for America, and the economy will boom.’”
[Twitter, @Pulte, 7/11/25]
September 4, 2025: Pulte Identified Jerome Powell Refusing To Fire Lisa Cook Due To Donald Trump’s Allegations As Evidence Of His Corruption. On Twitter, Bill Pulte posted: “As evidenced by Jerome Powell’s silence on Lisa Cook, and his refusal to call for her stepping aside, Jerome Powell is corrupt as hell.”
[Twitter, @Pulte, 9/4/25]
¶ Lisa Cook
August 20, 2025: Bill Pulte Demanded Lisa Cook Resign From The Federal Reserve Due To The Investigation Against Her. On Twitter, Bill Pulte wrote “Lisa Cook should immediately resign from the Federal Reserve. I believe the DOJ will open a criminal investigation into her alleged mortgage fraud.”
[Twitter, @Pulte, 8/20/25]
¶ Pulte Engaged In Personally Corrupt And Inappropriate Conduct
Pulte’s Lobbying For Lower Interest Rates Raised Concerns Of Conflicts Of Interests Given His Real Estate Investments. According to The New York Times, “Mr. Pulte’s financial disclosures showed that he still has strong ties to the real estate market and remains a managing member of the Pulte Family Office, an investment fund. Mr. Pulte, who according to the filing is worth more than $200 million, has for years called for lower interest rates to boost the real estate sector and is now doing so from a prominent government perch. ‘To the extent to which Pulte has input into the direction of the Federal Reserve — and his statements suggest he thinks he has some — it is problematic that his input is in line with his personal financial interests,’ said Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the Revolving Door Project, which scrutinizes the influence of money in politics.” [New York Times, 7/25/25]
¶ Bed, Bath, And Beyond Meme Stock
2023: Pulte Heavily Promoted Bed, Bath, And Beyond Stock In The Midst Of Its Bankruptcy, Resulting In Investors Losing Hundreds Of Thousands. According to Rolling Stone, “Pulte, whose financial disclosures show he still owns stock in GameStop, also appeared on podcasts that promoted Bed Bath and Beyond. (A representative for Pulte emailed Rolling Stone after publication to clarify that Pulte himself “has never told anyone privately or publicly to buy the stock.”) BBBY stock gained an unlikely following among meme stock enthusiasts, when Gamestop CEO Ryan Cohen purchased shares in the ailing company in 2022. In the summer of 2023, months after Bed Bath and Beyond filed for bankruptcy, Pulte reportedly said he was ‘captivated by the people and motives of the incredible BBBY community.’ The $BBBY frenzy didn’t end well: Bed Bath and Beyond’s stock was delisted, and a lot of unsophisticated investors lost money. One thread on the subreddit WallStreetBets — ‘I Lost over 100k to Bed Bath And Beyond” — attracted at least 1,800 comments, with a number of people sharing their own losses.” [Rolling Stone, 2/26/25]
2023: Pulte Hosted An Event For Bed Bath And Beyond Stock Where A Man Was Slapped With A Dildo And Bill Pulte Received A Trophy Declaring That “Bill Pulte Fucks Only The Young.” According to Rolling Stone, “PPSeeds, a YouTuber with whom Pulte has collaborated on multiple occasions and who is also said to have promoted BBBY, held a event during which Pulte was given an award that says ‘Bill Pulte Fucks’ on one side and ‘Only the Young’ on the other.” [Rolling Stone, 2/26/25]
- The Event Also Featured A Man Being Slapped With A Green Dildo. According to Yahoo News, “During part of the show, Pulte is seated on a chair next to a large green sex toy, which his co-host had earlier used to slap a participant on stage. ‘Here is the first ever live dildo slap on the PPLive,’ the co-host boasts before slapping the man. ‘Pulte, look at this f----ng thing!’ ‘Come on! Harder, daddy!’ the man laughs, as he gets another slap.” [Yahoo News, 6/3/26]
¶ As FHFA Head, Pulte Prioritized Supporting Trump’s Agenda Over Lowering Housing Prices
¶ Pulte Fired FHFA Watchdogs Who Had Been Investigating One Of His Allies
2025: Pulte Fired Federal National Mortgage Association Watchdogs Who Had Been Investigating One Of His Allies Under The Guise Of Ending DEI. According to The Washington Post, “President Donald Trump’s firebrand housing finance director, Bill Pulte, fired internal watchdogs at the Federal National Mortgage Association who were looking into multiple complaints against a high-ranking company officer close to him, according to people familiar with the matter. Pulte said last month he had fired dozens of Fannie Mae employees in what he said included a bid to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the mortgage giant. Yet six people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution, said those firings effectively cleared out the company’s internal watchdogs, charged with ensuring Fannie and its officials follow the law. The ethics team — including its chief, Suzanne Libby — was fired shortly after Fannie management directed investigators to cease looking into the Pulte ally, said a couple of the people familiar with the situation.” [Washington Post, 10/20/25]
March 2025: Pulte Consolidated FHFA Control Over Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac, Firing Much Of Their Boards And Installing New Leadership. According to The Wall Street Journal, “In his first full week as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, home-builder heir and former private-equity executive William Pulte ousted more than a dozen board members at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte made himself the chairman of the boards and installed a set of new directors (one of them was Christopher Stanley, an Elon Musk ally who resigned from the post a day later). He removed senior executives at the companies and the FHFA, which regulates Fannie and Freddie. Among those let go was Freddie CEO Diana Reid.” [Wall Street Journal, 3/23/25]
March 2025: Pulte Oversaw The Firing Of 10% Of The FHFA’s Workforce. According to Government Executive, “The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federally backed mortgage institutions, has so far this week shuttered two of its divisions, resulting in a cut to nearly 10% of its workforce. The moves follow the confirmation of Bill Pulte to lead FHFA and his decision this week to fire the majority of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s boards and name himself as the chair of both panels.” [Government Executive, 3/19/25]
¶ Pulte Abused His Office to Target Trump’s Political Enemies
2025: Pulte Used His Position At The FHFA To Further The Prosecutions Of Donald Trump’s Political Enemies. According to CNN, “Fears about Pulte’s willingness to use federal power to pursue Trump’s fixations and to punish his enemies is exacerbated by his role at the FHFA, when he sent the Justice Department criminal referrals on allegations of mortgage fraud against four Democrats who investigated Trump: New York Attorney General Letitia James, then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, Sen. Adam Schiff and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. He also referred Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over similar allegations.” [CNN, 6/3/26]
2025: Pulte Fired Employees At The FHFA Who Had Been Investigating His Use Of Confidential Mortgage Data To Go After Donald Trump’s Enemies. According to The Associated Press, “Pulte, who appointed himself chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has also rattled the housing industry by purging ethics officials and top leaders of the two government-sponsored lending giants, which hold trillions of dollars in assets. Some of those who have been fired were investigating whether Pulte and his allies used non-public mortgage data as the basis for his criminal referrals against Schiff and others.” [Associated Press, 11/20/25
¶ Letitia James
April 2025: Pulte Referred Letitia James To The Justice Department For Prosecution, Alleging Mortgage Fraud. According to CNN, “Last month, a lawyer for James called allegations she engaged in mortgage fraud “threadbare” after Federal Housing Finance Authority Director Bill Pulte sent a letter to the Justice Department referring the attorney general for criminal prosecution. Pulte alleged James may have engaged in mortgage fraud by making false or misleading statements on property records, including a loan application document indicating a property in Virginia is James’ primary residence, a building record stating her multifamily Brooklyn property incorrectly has five residences instead of four, and a mortgage application that falsely stated James was her father’s spouse.” [CNN, 5/19/25]
- Virginia Prosecutors Declined To File Charges Over Bill Pulte’s Allegations, Resulting In The Replacement Of The Top Prosecutor For The Eastern District Of Virginia By Trump Loyalist Lindsey Halligan. According to CNN, “Prosecutors for months investigated Pulte’s allegations – one of whom, special prosecutor Ed Martin, even posed for pictures in front of her Brooklyn home. The prosecutors working on the case concluded there was not enough evidence to charge her with intentionally lying on her loan paperwork, CNN reported. In fact, the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia was pushed out of his role because of his resistance from Pulte, Martin and the White House to bring any charges. His replacement, former Trump aide Lindsey Halligan presented the case to the grand jury soon after accepting the job. Halligan previously secured a grand jury indictment into another Trump enemy, former FBI Director James Comey. Comey has pleaded not guilty.” [CNN, 10/10/25]
December 2025: A Judge Dropped Charges Against Letitia James, And A Grand Jury Declined To Indict Her. According to The BBC, “A federal grand jury in Virginia has declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, days after a judge dismissed the earlier case against her. It marks another blow to Trump's efforts to prosecute those he considers political adversaries, which also includes ex-FBI Director James Comey. Last month, a judge dismissed the federal cases against James and Comey after finding the prosecutor appointed by Trump was not in the post legally.” [BBC, 12/4/25]
March 26, 2026: Pulte Again Used His Office To Target Letitia James, Filing A Criminal Referral With The DOJ For Insurance Fraud. According to HousingWire, “Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte is again targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, this time filing criminal referrals with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over alleged insurance fraud. The referrals were sent to two U.S. attorneys — Jason Reding Quinones of the Southern District of Florida and Andrew Boutros of the Northern District of Illinois — who were each nominated by President Donald Trump.” [HousingWire, 3/26/26]
¶ Eric Swalwell
November 14, 2025: Pulte Referred Eric Swalwell To The Justice Department For Mortgage Fraud. According to CNN, “A Trump administration official referred California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to the Justice Department over mortgage fraud allegations, a source familiar told CNN. The accusation was made by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who has made similar allegations against high-ranking democratic officials including New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Senator Adam Schiff.” [CNN, 11/14/25]
November 25, 2026: Eric Swalwell Sued Pulte For Abuse Of Power. According to The Hill, “Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) has filed a suit against the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), arguing its leader abused his authority in forwarding a criminal referral regarding the lawmaker’s mortgage. The suit is the first of its kind after FHFA Director Bill Pulte has made four criminal referrals for Democrats alleging they committed some type of mortgage fraud. Swalwell’s suit goes on the offense, asking the courts to force the director to withdraw the referral in arguing the director wrongly obtained the information.” [The Hill, 11/25/26]
March 20, 2026: Eric Swalwell Dismissed His Lawsuit Against Pulte Without Prejudice. According to Scotsman Guide, “U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, ending a months-long legal battle over allegations that Pulte unlawfully accessed and weaponized Swalwell’s private mortgage records. On March 20, Swalwell and the FHFA filed a joint stipulation to dismiss the case without prejudice. The lawsuit, initially filed in November 2025, accused Pulte of abusing his authority by allegedly scouring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac databases to target high-profile Democrats with mortgage fraud referrals to the Department of Justice.” [Scotsman Guide, 3/23/26]
¶ Adam Schiff
November 2025: The Justice Department Investigated Bill Pulte For Communicating With Social Media Users Promoting The Mortgage Fraud Allegations Against Adam Schiff. According to The Associated Press, “The Justice Department is examining the handling of the mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff, including the potential involvement of people who claimed to be acting at the behest or direction of two Trump administration officials who have been pushing the probe of the California Democrat, according to a document reviewed by The Associated Press. Federal authorities involved in the Schiff investigation in Maryland interviewed a Republican congressional candidate on Thursday who has promoted the mortgage fraud allegations against the lawmaker and quizzed her about any communications she may have had with Justice Department official Ed Martin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte. The interview came after the woman received a subpoena seeking information about communications she may have had with people claiming to be working at the direction of Pulte and Martin.” [Associated Press, 11/20/25]
¶ Lisa Cook
August 2025: Pulte Accused Lisa Cook Of Mortgage Fraud, Resulting In Donald Trump Attempting To Fire Her In Order To Consolidate Control Over The Federal Reserve. According to The Associated Press, “Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook effective immediately because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Cook said Monday night that she would not step down. ‘President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so,’ she said in an emailed statement. ‘I will not resign.’ Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week. Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences -- in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta -- in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often higher on second homes or those purchased to rent.” [Associated Press, 8/26/26]
¶ Jerome Powell
2025: Pulte Waged An Extensive Social Media Campaign To Pressure Jerome Powell To Resign As Fed Chair, Including Using The Credence Of His Office To Amplify Rumors Of Jerome Powell Resigning. According to The New York Times, “For weeks, Mr. Pulte, who has three million followers, has called for Mr. Powell to either resign or be investigated over a renovation to the Federal Reserve building in Washington that he has said is ‘riddled with fraud.’ The approach has also been an opportunity for Mr. Pulte to ingratiate himself with the president, a developer. Within hours of Mr. Trump’s making a comment about his frustration with Mr. Powell’s policy on interest rates, Mr. Pulte usually takes to X with a post demanding Mr. Powell’s resignation. [...] Mr. Pulte has not hesitated to use the housing agency’s letterhead to extend his effort, which sometimes includes spreading rumors. Two weeks ago, Mr. Pulte issued a news release in which he said he “was encouraged” by unsubstantiated reports that Mr. Powell was thinking of resigning.” [New York Times, 7/25/25]
¶ Pulte Prioritized Trump’s Agenda Over His Actual Job
2025-2026: Pulte Neglected Crafting Policy To Manage Housing Prices As FHFA Head. According to The New York Times, “One criticism of Mr. Pulte is that beyond his social media posts railing about Mr. Powell he hasn’t done much to outline a strategic policy on getting the housing market going and confronting what some economists and analysts estimate is a nationwide shortage of at least two million homes. ‘I am not quite sure what the overarching policy is,’ said Laurie Goodman, founder of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute. ‘What is his philosophy.’” [New York Times, 7/25/25]
¶ Trump Wanted Pulte To Play A Role In Elections And To Fire Intelligence Agents
2026: Donald Trump Appointed Pulte As DNI To Give Him A Role In “Election Security”. According to CNN, “CNN reported Tuesday that Trump’s reasoning was simple: He wanted a loyalist that he could trust. And he also sees Pulte playing a role in election security, sources said.” [CNN, 6/3/26]
- Pulte’s Appointment As Acting DNI Allowed Him To Stay In That Position Until After The Midterms. According to CNN, “Pulte could legally serve as acting DNI until at least the end of the year, a timeframe encompassing November’s midterms, which Trump has already repeatedly claimed could be tainted by fraud.” [CNN, 6/3/26]
June 5, 2026: Donald Trump Said He Instructed Pulte To Fire Intelligence Professionals, Including Those Appointed Under Joe Biden, And Shrink America’s Intelligence Apparatus. According to The Wall Street Journal, “President Trump said he wants Bill Pulte, his incoming acting director of national intelligence, to begin the process of firing a large number of employees as part of a shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Trump said he has privately told Pulte that he believes the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 federal intelligence agencies and units, is ‘unnecessary and or too big.’ ‘I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,’ Trump said, pointing to holdovers from the Biden and Obama administrations. Asked whether he is calling on Pulte to fire people, Trump said he wants him to ‘start the process,’ adding that his eventual nominee to serve in the role permanently should continue that work.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/5/26]