{"id":268,"date":"2026-06-02T18:12:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=268"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:12:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:12:02","slug":"trump-appoints-loyalist-with-zero-experience-to-top-intelligence-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=268","title":{"rendered":"Trump Appoints Loyalist With Zero Experience to Top Intelligence Role"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump has named William \u201cBill\u201d Pulte, the current head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as the next acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a position for which he has no expertise or apparent qualifications.<\/p>\n

Pulte will take over the role upon the exit of current DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her resignation last month. Trump announced Pulte\u2019s appointment in his preferred way: in a post on Truth Social.<\/p>\n

The president claimed Pulte has \u201cdeep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America,\u201d including \u201cthe safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae\/Freddie Mac.\u201d The comments about the FHFA director come as millions of Americans are struggling financially and housing mortgage rates have hit a nine-month high.<\/p>\n

Trump also said that Pulte \u201cwill remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae\/Freddie Mac\u201d while he assumes the DNI role. <\/p>\n

As an \u201cacting\u201d official, Pulte will not have to undergo Senate confirmation, a move Trump may have done on purpose, given Pulte\u2019s lack of experience. Pulte can remain in that position for 210 days, at which point Trump will either have to formally submit Pulte\u2019s name as a permanent nominee, or select a different DNI pick. <\/p>\n

According to the DNI government webpage, the director \u201cserves as the head of the Intelligence Community,\u201d and is the \u201cprincipal advisor to the President, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to national security.\u201d The Intelligence Community is made up of over a dozen U.S. civilian and military analysis and espionage agencies, including the CIA, NSA, and military intelligence branches.<\/p>\n

Pulte, who has primarily worked in private equity, has never been involved in a national intelligence position within the federal government. Pulte also has never served in any branch of the U.S. military. In terms of what the position entails, Pulte is set to become the least-qualified person ever to head the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). <\/p>\n

Pulte\u2019s tenure as head of FHFA has been mired in controversy, largely due to his deep loyalty to Trump. Pulte has sent criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) against several figures the president has deemed his political enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), former head of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, and others. <\/p>\n

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The referrals alleged that those individuals engaged in mortgage fraud \u2014 assertions viewed with skepticism by legal experts, landing Pulte his own open investigation by the Government Accountability Office. <\/p>\n

Several critics on social media sounded off on Pulte\u2019s appointment, noting that his loyalty to Trump seems to be his key qualifying feature for the DNI position.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo whomever is reading this, you are just as qualified for this role as Bill Pulte,\u201d HuffPost <\/em>deputy editor Phil Lewis wrote on Bluesky.<\/p>\n

\u201cPulte has no national intelligence expertise. None. Loyalty, not competence,\u201d former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said. <\/p>\n

Political activist and author Leah McElrath took note of Pulte\u2019s family history, writing:<\/p>\n

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Pulte is a real estate developer whose grandfather is in the Epstein files for facilitating the laundering of Russian money to Donald Trump through a real estate deal apparently brokered by Epstein.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pulte \u201cnow oversees the entire US intelligence infrastructure,\u201d McElrath said, adding that Pulte has \u201cshown himself to be someone willing to target Trump\u2019s political opponents and will likely use that infrastructure to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demand Progress Executive Director Sean Vitka also blasted Pulte\u2019s appointment. <\/p>\n

\u201cCongress must not sign away unchecked spying powers to the government when Donald Trump\u2019s top spy is a man whose primary qualification is his willingness to weaponize sensitive information held by the government against the president\u2019s political enemies,\u201d Vitka said in a statement shared with Truthout<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read more \u201c60 Minutes\u201d Correspondent Pelley Calls Out CBS Execs for \u201cMurdering\u201d Program<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump\u2019s choice for acting Director of National Intelligence is also the subject of an open federal watchdog inquiry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Appoints Loyalist With Zero Experience to Top Intelligence Role - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump Appoints Loyalist With Zero Experience to Top Intelligence Role - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trump\u2019s choice for acting Director of National Intelligence is also the subject of an open federal watchdog inquiry.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T18:12:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=268#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=268\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Trump Appoints Loyalist With Zero Experience to Top Intelligence Role\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T18:12:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=268\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=268#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/6da4267d612b5b3d6987275446608318.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=268#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=268\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=268\",\"name\":\"Trump Appoints Loyalist With Zero Experience to Top Intelligence Role - 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