{"id":243,"date":"2026-06-03T14:45:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=243"},"modified":"2026-06-03T14:45:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:45:28","slug":"trumps-intelligence-pick-sparks-rare-maga-media-revolt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=243","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s intelligence pick sparks rare MAGA media revolt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

When Tulsi Gabbard resigned as director of national intelligence in May, it was hard to imagine her replacement could be so much more unqualified. Gabbard spent her tenure waging turf wars with the CIA and selectively weaponizing classified disclosures for partisan theater. To be sure, Donald Trump has never been particularly interested in qualifications for members of his Cabinet. Competence is optional, and loyalty has always mattered more. Yet Trump\u2019s <\/span>decision<\/span> to install Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence somehow managed to shock even his most steadfast MAGA allies.The usual chorus of <\/span>praise<\/span> was there, of course, but this time, even prominent conservatives flinched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pulte, the current head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no meaningful background in intelligence, espionage, military affairs, counterterrorism or national security. His career high-water marks include inheriting a construction fortune, running an attention-seeking cash-giveaway scheme on social media and serving as Trump\u2019s head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he became a top proponent of the predatory and controversial 50-year mortgage. The true, chilling utility of Pulte to the Trump project lies in his track record of weaponizing government agencies against domestic political opponents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since taking over the housing finance agency, Pulte has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department targeting Democrats including California Sen. Adam Schiff, former California Rep. Eric Swalwell and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as well as Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and others \u2014\u00a0all of whom are prominent critics of Donald Trump. The referrals produced no charges. The case against James was <\/span>dismissed<\/span> after a federal judge found that Trump\u2019s handpicked prosecutor had been unlawfully installed. In December, the Government Accountability Office launched an investigation into whether Pulte had abused his government position to target political enemies. This all apparently impressed his boss.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Trump does not want an intelligence director who protects America from foreign adversaries; he wants a DNI who will selectively declassify government documents on his behalf.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Trump does not want an intelligence director who protects America from foreign adversaries; he wants a DNI who will selectively declassify government documents on his behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Bannon, in full wartime-consigliere mode on his \u201cWar Room\u201d podcast, praised the selection as a warning sign for Trump\u2019s critics on the left and immediately <\/span>pushed<\/span> for MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec of Pizzagate infamy to be installed as Pulte\u2019s deputy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite Bannon\u2019s glee, Pulte\u2019s elevation to acting DNI was quick to <\/span>expose<\/span> that the stench of the rot inside Trump\u2019s administration is starting to reach much of the MAGA media ecosystem. A housing regulator suddenly becoming America\u2019s top intelligence official is so obviously absurd that it tests the limits of dutiful compliance. Even the people who built the MAGA movement can\u2019t quite look directly at that and call it acceptable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Erick Erickson, the conservative radio host and founder of the RedState political blog, did not hold back. \u201cBill Pulte is one of the worst members of the President\u2019s team,\u201d he <\/span>wrote<\/span> on X, \u201cand has convinced Trump to do more stupid stuff than anyone else in the past year.\u201d Jonah Goldberg, editor in chief of the right-leaning outlet The Dispatch, was <\/span>equally withering<\/span>: \u201cGreat, a totally unqualified loyalist with a record of cutting corners to help the president punish political opponents. Just the guy you want at DNI.\u201d On Fox News, Washington Examiner contributor Byron York <\/span>called<\/span> Pulte \u201ca pretty poor choice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Even Gabbard, who cut more than 30% of the ODNI staff during her tenure, was imminently more qualified. The DNI office and position was created by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, an initiative designed to ensure that 18 intelligence agencies collaborated so that the country would never again fail to \u201cconnect the dots\u201d as it did before the Sept. 11 attacks. The law is explicit that the director role should go to someone with \u201cextensive national security expertise.\u201d Pulte does not come close to meeting that standard, and even Republicans who normally swallow every Trump improvisation admit as much.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Sen. Susan Collins of Maine \u2014 one of the authors of the law that created the DNI position \u2014 noted with barely concealed alarm, she had no idea whether Pulte even had a security clearance. \u201cI do not know Mr. Pulte at all,\u201d Collins told reporters on Tuesday. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton offered the kind of frozen, evasive non-comment that signals a party too intimidated or too exhausted to defend what it knows is indefensible. Outgoing Sen. Bill Cassidy, recently defeated by a Trump-endorsed primary challenger in Louisiana, was more forthcoming: \u201cThe best I can tell you is he\u2019s not qualified.\u201d Even Senate Majority Leader John Thune <\/span>told<\/span> reporters \u201cwe don\u2019t need a weaponized DNI.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The appointment also threatens to drag the Senate into a broader fight over <\/span>surveillance<\/span> authority. Punchbowl News reported on Wednesday that the White House had already signaled to top Republicans that Aaron Lukas \u2014 whom Trump had named acting DNI just 12 days earlier \u2014 would remain in that role for an extended period. Trump\u2019s selection of Pulte puts a live grenade on the table in the middle of one of the few bipartisan legislative efforts still functioning in this Congress, as Democrats are already warning that his elevation could jeopardize the fragile Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization process. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trump has long relied on acting officials to bypass Senate confirmation fights. The strategy allows him to install loyalists quickly while avoiding prolonged scrutiny of their qualifications. Acting officials can wield significant authority despite never receiving congressional approval. During Trump\u2019s first term, Richard Grenell used his chaotic three-month stint to fire career officials, radically restructure the office and declassify documents regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election \u2014 a scorched-earth blitz that so alienated lawmakers he could never have been confirmed. Pulte may have the opportunity to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>reporting<\/span> from the Wall Street Journal, Pulte secured the appointment through the time-honored tradition of sycophancy \u2014\u00a0and becoming what the publication called \u201cLittle Trump.\u201d In private conversations with the president, he aggressively made the case that he would be an \u201cunyielding advocate\u201d for Trump\u2019s foreign policy agenda, explicitly signaling his eager support for the war in Iran. But the more illuminating detail <\/span>emerged from Semafor<\/span>: longtime Trump ally Roger Stone pushed hard for Pulte in the hopes he would use the DNI\u2019s declassification powers to release documents supporting conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. Meanwhile, right-wing reporter John Solomon will join the Trump administration to work on \u201ctransparency\u201d issues related to the 2016 and 2020 elections, the New York Times <\/span>reported<\/span> on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Pulte\u2019s appointment makes unmistakably clear is that Trump does not view the DNI as a national security position. He views it as a political enforcement position \u2014 an office equipped with the most sensitive information and intrusive surveillance capabilities in the government, available to be turned inward against his enemies. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Many of the president’s stalwart allies won’t defend his choice of Bill Pulte as director of national intelligence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[208,416,417,5,418,216],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-analysis","tag-bill-pulte","tag-director-of-national-intelligence","tag-donald-trump","tag-intelligence","tag-right-wing-media"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s intelligence pick sparks rare MAGA media revolt - Relocation Across America<\/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:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=243\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s intelligence pick sparks rare MAGA media revolt - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of the president's stalwart allies won't defend his choice of Bill Pulte as director of national intelligence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=243\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T14:45:28+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=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"Trump\u2019s intelligence pick sparks rare MAGA media revolt\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T14:45:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243\"},\"wordCount\":1198,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/312079929185ddd73e7d2b06fd293f04.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Analysis\",\"Bill Pulte\",\"Director Of National Intelligence\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Intelligence\",\"Right-wing Media\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s intelligence pick sparks rare MAGA media revolt - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/312079929185ddd73e7d2b06fd293f04.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T14:45:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=243#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/312079929185ddd73e7d2b06fd293f04.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/312079929185ddd73e7d2b06fd293f04.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1142,\"caption\":\"UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 27: William Pulte, nominee to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is sworn in to his Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Thursday, February 27, 2025. 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