Trump urges new spy chief to fire staff

Bill Pulte’s office staffing has been “too high for too long,” says Donald Trump. File | Photo credit: Reuters

US President Donald Trump said on Friday (June 5, 2026) that he wants his incoming spy chief to begin firing staff, deepening controversy over the appointment of a man with no prior intelligence experience.

Bill Pulte, a Mr Trump loyalist who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was named acting director of the National Intelligence Service by the Republican president on Tuesday (June 2).

“I wouldn’t mind if he cut back,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that the staffing in Mr. Pulte’s office had been “too high for too long.”

Mr. Trump earlier told the Wall Street Journal that he wanted Mr. Pulte — who will oversee 18 sprawling U.S. intelligence agencies — to cut staff.

“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there’s a lot of people there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump told the newspaper, referring to claims by the Biden and Obama administrations.

Democrats condemned the appointment of Mr. Pulte to replace Tulsi Gabbard as intelligence chief, pointing to the loyalist’s history of weaponizing government records against Mr. Trump’s opponents.

Mr Trump tried to play down the row, insisting that Mr Pulte would only be in the role as a stopgap, and said on Friday (June 5) that he had recently interviewed five people for the post.

But Mr. Trump told the WSJ that he might also give Mr. Pulte free rein to gut the U.S. intelligence community. “You’re less shackled,” he told the newspaper. “It gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited time.

Mr Trump suggested on Thursday that Mr Pulte should also investigate a “rigged election” and doubled down on his unsubstantiated claims about the vote stemming from his 2021 election loss.

The Republican president had previously dispatched Gabbard, who said she was leaving to care for her ailing husband, to investigate alleged election fraud, despite having no mandate to do so as director of National Intelligence.

Fortune heir Mr Pulte has previously shown his loyalty to Mr Trump by going after the president’s political enemies. Mr. Pulte used the mortgage records to support investigations of Mr. Trump’s opponents, including Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff.

Mr. Trump’s appointment of Mr. Pulte also added to the president’s growing rift with Republican lawmakers, who are nervously eyeing polls ahead of November’s midterm elections.

US senators on Friday blocked legislation to restore the top foreign watchdog in protest at Mr Pulte’s appointment, overturning a bipartisan deal.

Democrats said Mr. Pulte’s appointment made it impossible to support expanded surveillance powers without assurances about how the intelligence would be used.

In Kharkiv, at least 19 people have been injured in residential areas over the past two days – including 11 on Tuesday (June 2), with some residents buried in the rubble.

Published – June 6, 2026 9:54 PM IST