President Donald Trump says he wants incoming Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Bill Pulte to "start the process" of firing intelligence community officials, he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.Trump on Tuesday tapped Pulte to take over for the current DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned in May after her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.Pulte, who will take over in the interim when Gabbard's resignation becomes official on June 30, has apparently been tasked with reducing the number of employees at the 18 intelligence agencies over which the DNI presides."I’d like to see it smaller.I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there," Trump told the Wall Street Journal, referring to the intelligence community.TRUMP NAMES BILL PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCEDirector of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte walks outside the White House, Sept.
2, 2025, in Washington.(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)The selection of Pulte, who currently serves as Trump's Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has reportedly irked a swath of lawmakers, including former Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who publicly criticized the move."We don't need a weaponized DNI.
We need professionals there," Thune said.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters after the Senate passed a Department of Homeland Security funding bill at the U.S.Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2026.
The bill funds all of DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection and was sent back to the House.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)But Pulte's outsider status was explicitly what made Trump inclined to pick him the first place, he explained to the Wall Street Journal.GABBARD LAUNCHES 'ODNI 2.0,' WITH PLAN TO CUT WORKFORCE BY 40%"You’re less shackled," he told the outlet.
"It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited pe...