Trump says Bill Pulte won’t be director of national intelligence permanently

Washington — President Trump told reporters Thursday that Bill Pulte, his controversial pick for acting director of national intelligence, won’t be nominated to the role permanently, and the administration is interviewing other candidates to fill the role in the long term.

But while Pulte is heading up the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the president said he may “find out some things about the rigged elections,” a notable comment after outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attended an FBI search of an election center in Fulton County, Georgia, earlier this year. 

“It’s an acting position, it’s not permanent, he’s not going to be permanent because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. “But he’s a very smart guy and he may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc., etc. I think he’d like to do it. I’d like to — I think he wants to do it very much. Got a lot of energy. But he’ll be very good. Again, it’s not a permanent position. We’re looking at, we’re interviewing people right now. But it’s somebody just to take it over for a little while.” 

The president’s pick of Pulte, who has no known national security experience and investigated Trump foes for mortgage fraud as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was not met with enthusiasm on Capitol Hill, at a time when tensions are already high among Senate Republicans. Republicans are looking to extend the federal government’s surveillance powers, but Democrats are threatening to hold up that process if Pulte is in charge of overseeing the nation’s intelligence agencies. 

The president was asked if Pulte has the national security experience necessary for the nation’s top intelligence chief. 

“I think he does, actually, because he’s smart,” Mr. Trump responded. “Because a lot of national security — look, I wasn’t greatly experienced in national security and I think I’ve done a really great job with it, a lot of people would say that.” 

The president also called Pulte a “person who’s got high integrity” and who has done a “phenomenal” job running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

Gabbard’s visit to the raid in Fulton County, a key county in Mr. Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020, raised concerns about the politicization of the intelligence community, including from some Republicans. At the time, a spokesperson for Gabbard said both the president and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi asked her to be present for the FBI search of the elections headquarters. The president said Gabbard attended the search “at Pam’s insistence,” meaning Bondi.