National

Trump urges Pulte to fire intelligence community employees, WSJ reports

By Reuters Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Bill Pulte, nominated to be the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bill Pulte, nominated to be the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo Annabelle Gordon Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday he wants acting director of national intelligence Bill Pulte to begin the process of firing a large number of employees as part of a shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community.

Trump told the Journal he 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."

(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 9:20 AM.

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