Trump taps housing regulator Pulte to be acting director of national
intelligence
[June 03, 2026]
By JOSH BOAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has tapped Bill Pulte, head of
the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as acting director of
national intelligence — elevating a real estate scion with no clear
national security credentials to a key post as the U.S. remains at war
with Iran.
Trump made the surprise announcement Tuesday on social media that Pulte
would be replacing Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii congresswoman who
had served as the director of national intelligence. Trump said Pulte
will keep his other positions even as he fills in for Gabbard, who
resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.
The Republican president cited Pulte's work at the FHFA and his role as
chair of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as indicating
that his real estate work would overlap with the skills needed to
coordinate 18 federal agencies tasked with aspects of foreign and
domestic security.
“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in
America, the safety and soundness of the Markets," Trump posted on Truth
Social.
Trump's choice to elevate Pulte, who would also continue in his post at
FHFA, shows how the president is putting a greater priority on loyalty
to him, even as the Iran war has damaged Trump politically going into
November's midterm elections and raised concerns about the quality of
advice that aides are giving to a president who has rewarded flattery.
It’s unclear what national security expertise Pulte brings to bear as
the U.S. faces conflict in the Middle East, helps Ukraine defend itself
against Russia's assault and manages the emergence of artificial
intelligence as a military tool. But Pulte, who's 38 years old, has been
a frequent guest on Air Force One as Trump has traveled to Mar-a-Lago,
his home and club in Palm Beach, Florida.
On one such flight, the housing finance director stood in a doorway as
Trump discussed with reporters the ballroom he’s building at the White
House and handed Trump a series of renderings of the project that the
president held up.
Questions about Pulte's experience
Several Senate Republicans reacted skeptically to Pulte’s appointment,
questioning whether the housing finance director has the experience
necessary to oversee the intelligence agency.
“We don’t need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there," said
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota. "I’m
trying to get more information about the current state of their thinking
about that position. And, again, if he’s somebody they want in that
position permanently, he’s got, as you all know, a lengthy road ahead of
him.“
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee,
said in response to questions about Pulte's national security
credentials: “I have no observations on the matter.”
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of
Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas, all of whom are leaving the chamber
after this year's elections, joined the chorus of wariness against
Pulte.
“Doesn’t seem qualified,” Cassidy said.
“I don’t see any evidence of qualifications for that job,” said Cornyn,
a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“When we looked at his background for the current confirmation, I
thought most of his experience was in the building industry,” Tillis
said. “I didn’t know he had any national security experience.”
Democrats noted that Pulte's major qualification appeared to be his
enthusiasm for fulfilling Trump's requests.
“The concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national
security experience’ required by statute for the job, which was created
after intelligence failures led to the deaths of thousands of Americans
on 9/11," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., in a statement. “It is that he
appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes
he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Pulte has been “abusing his
authority” as the federal housing finance director and Trump is now
"rewarding his lackey — who has no national security experience — with a
perch atop our nation’s intelligence community. What could go wrong?”
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Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte walks
outside the White House, Sept. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, the liberal
consumer rights advocacy group, warned that Pulte was “Trump's
hatchet man” who would use the government against those Americans
who object to the president's actions.
“Placing Pulte in this post would position him to use the nation’s
massive surveillance apparatus and police capacity to harass,
intimidate and threaten the many, many people that Trump considers
his enemies," Weissman said.
Pulte's attacks on Trump foes
As the grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, one of the country's
largest homebuilders, Pulte has cut a combative streak on social
media and used his post at the FHFA to attack perceived opponents of
the Trump administration.
His time overseeing mortgage finance has been linked with criminal
referrals over allegations of mortgage fraud by public officials
Trump sought to punish, including New York Attorney General Letitia
James, a Democrat; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Lisa Cook, a
board member of the Federal Reserve, who was nominated by a
Democratic president, Joe Biden.
The prosecution against James was dismissed in November after a
judge concluded that the prosecutor who filed the charges was
illegally appointed. Other referrals made by Pulte, including
against Schiff and Cook, have not yielded any criminal charges.
Lawyers for both have denied any claims of wrongdoing. But Trump did
try to use the possibility of mortgage fraud as grounds for removing
Cook from the Fed.
Cook’s lawyer accused Pulte of pursuing mortgage fraud on a partisan
basis, focusing on Democrats and refusing to pursue similar
allegations against Republicans.
Pulte told reporters at the White House several months ago that he
had also made criminal referrals regarding at least one Republican
official, but he declined to provide the name.
He has famously gone after then-Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not
cutting the central bank’s benchmark interest rates as aggressively
as the president wanted. He has also been linked to ideas such as
the 50-year mortgage and efforts to lower mortgage rates through the
purchase of home loan debt that have not paid off as promised, as
mortgage rates began to climb after the Iran war started at the end
of February.
Pulte has a reputation for cultivating enemies. In a legal feud
pursued by Pulte that involved his family namesake's homebuilding
company, he accused his grandfather’s widow of insider trading. He
was believed to be the driving force behind a website trashing an
aunt as a “fake Christian.” And he publicly blasted another relative
as “a fat slob,” “weirdo” and “grifter,” according to court records.
Politico reported in September that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
threatened to punch Pulte in the face. The showdown occurred at a
private dinner, and the treasury secretary claimed that he had heard
Pulte had been badmouthing him to Trump.
Still, he had fans inside the White House elsewhere.
“Bill Pulte is a terrific guy, very careful person, very much in the
details of things, trusted by the president, and a really, really
close friend to everybody in the White House,” Kevin Hassett, the
director of the National Economic Council at the White House, told
reporters on Tuesday. “He'll do a great job.”
If formally nominated, Pulte would need to be confirmed by the
Senate to hold the position full-time.
In his first term, Trump at various points had acting officials
leading the Justice and Defense departments and in top posts at
Homeland Security and the Interior.
___
Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Seung Min Kim in
Washington contributed to this report.
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