Trump appoints Bill Pulte as Acting DNI despite 'no apparent intel experience': Dilanian

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Jun 2, 2026 #trump #politics #whitehouse

President Trump announced he is appointing Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte to be Acting Director of National Intelligence. Also, Trump has backtracked on his $1.776 billion DOJ settlement fund. MS NOW Justice and Intelligence Reporter Ken Dilanian, MS NOW Congressional Reporter Mychael Schnell, MS NOW White House Reporter Jake Traylor, former FBI official Rob D'Amico and NYU Law School professor Rebecca Roiphe join Ana Cabrera to discuss more. MS NOW: My Source for News, Opinion, and the World. » Subscribe to MS NOW:

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Transcript

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1 second

So, Ken, Pulte is a business executive. He's a staunch Trump ly.

5 seconds

Does he have any experience IS THERE ANY EXPERIENCE FOR THIS ROLE AS ACTING DNI?

11 seconds

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER JOW-DROPPING ANNOUNCEMENT from Donald Trump.

14 seconds

No intel experience that we're aware of, or that is apparent from his resume. He's 38 years old.

21 seconds

As you said, he's been involved in making criminal referrals about mortgage fraud regarding some of OF DONALD TRUMP'S POLITICAL FOES,

29 seconds

INCLUDING REPRESENTATIVE ADAM SCHIFF AND LETITIA JAMES, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW YORK.

35 seconds

AND IN THE TRUTH SOCIAL POST ANNOUNCING THIS APPOINTMENT, DONALD TRUMP SAID HE DIDN'T REFERENCE ANY intelligence experience.

40 seconds

He said that William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of markets.

48 seconds

I don't know what to say to that there is a provision in the law that requires the director of national intelligence to have significant intelligence experience.

57 seconds

A lot of Democrats believe that Tulsi Gabbard didn't qualify for that, but at least Tulsi Gabbard had been a military officer, had some foreign affairs experience.

1 minute, 7 seconds

You know, this was a post that was created after 9-11, an office designed to connect the dots, to stitch together the various strands

1 minute, 15 seconds

of IT IS REALLY FALLEN OUT OF GRACE, PARTICULARLY IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.

1 minute, 20 seconds

THERE ARE PEOPLE NOW THAT THINK THAT IT SHOULD BE DISBANDED ESSENTIALLY.

1 minute, 23 seconds

THE CIA IS PLAYING THE PRIMARY ROLE IN BOTH GATHERING and analyzing and pulling together intelligence in the Trump administration.

1 minute, 30 seconds

And now you have Donald Trump appointing this person with no, not only no intelligence experience, no apparent foreign policy experience to this role in the acting IT'S JUST ANOTHER STRANGE

1 minute, 39 seconds

DAY IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. I THINK THAT'S WHY WE ARE ALL ASKING WHY, JAKE.

1 minute, 46 seconds

WHAT WENT INTO THIS DECISION BEHIND THE SCENES THERE AT THE WHITE HOUSE?

1 minute, 50 seconds

AND WHY HAVE HIM DO TWO WHEN THEY ARE GOING TO BE CONFIDENTLY, WHAT WE CAN'T SAY DEFINITIVELY IS REALLY

1 minute, 57 seconds

POINT TO ANY EXPERTISE IN TERMS OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE THAT POLTY MAY HAVE.

2 minutes, 1 second

WHAT WE CAN SAY CONFIDENTLY IS BILL POLTY HAS has positioned himself as someone who is an incredibly loyal individual to Donald Trump,

2 minutes, 8 seconds

which we know in this administration carries significant weight.

2 minutes, 12 seconds

Look, he was chairing, he was head of the federal housing finance agency, nothing to do with NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, BUT REPEATEDLY, PULTATE, THROUGHOUT TRUMP'S SECOND

2 minutes, 20 seconds

ADMINISTRATION HAS VERY PUBLICLY PUSHED FOR THE PROSECUTION OF SOME OF TRUMP'S ENEMIES. ONE OF THOSE MOST FAMOUSLY WAS LATITIA JAMES.

2 minutes, 28 seconds

HE DID THAT FROM THE OVAL OFFICE MONTHS BACK OFFICIALS SAY THAT POLTAY HAS POSITIONED HIMSELF IN A WAY THAT HE TALKS WITH TRUMP REGULARLY.

2 minutes, 36 seconds

HE'S SOMEONE THAT HAS VERY PRIVATELY AND PUBLICLY BEEN INCREDIBLY LOYAL TO PRESIDENT TRUMP.

2 minutes, 41 seconds

THIS IS ALSO SOMEONE THIS IS ONE WHO OFFICIALS SAY SOMETIMES ANGERED FOLKS WITHIN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT BECAUSE OF HOW PUBLICLY HE HAS PUSHED FOR THE WEAPONIZATION

2 minutes, 49 seconds

of political enemies of President Trump despite any really routine evidence being clearly stated there.

2 minutes, 54 seconds

So this is something that what we don't know at the moment is, is this a plan for the president to eventually move him to appoint him to a full-time position?

3 minutes, 1 second

Of course, that'll IT WILL BE INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO GET THAT CONFIRMATION NECESSARY.

3 minutes, 6 seconds

BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE PRESIDENT, IN THE MEANTIME, IT SEEMS BELIEVES IT'S GOING TO HELP HIM GET THE INFORMATION HE WANT QUICKER FROM WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT.

3 minutes, 14 seconds

AND TO YOUR QUESTION, TOO, I'LL JUST ADD ABOUT HAVING HIM, YOU KNOW, SERVE AS THE HEAD OF FANNY MAY, FREDDY MAC WHILE ALSO NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

3 minutes, 23 seconds

PRESIDENT TRUMP HASN'T STOPPED TRUMP AND OTHER PIECES OF HIS ADMINISTRATION. MARCO RUBIO HOLDING THREE ROLLS RIGHT NOW.

3 minutes, 30 seconds

IT'S UNCLEAR THE FULL-PROOF STRATEGY OF PRESIDENT TRUMP RIGHT NOW, BUT THIS IS As someone who is loyal to Trump, we know how much weight that carries in this administration.

3 minutes, 38 seconds

That's right.

3 minutes, 39 seconds

And Rob, as Ken mentioned, Tulsi Gabbard was already a controversial pick in this role.

3 minutes, 43 seconds

And now Trump has chosen someone who is at the center of his effort to use executive power to target his perceived political adversaries.

3 minutes, 51 seconds

Is that going to rebuild confidence within the intelligence community? No, not at all.

3 minutes, 58 seconds

You know, the people who've been working this, been working it for decades and their entire lives.

4 minutes, 2 seconds

And you see someone come in that has absolutely zero experiences.

4 minutes, 5 seconds

As Ken said, Tulsi wasn't even really considered qualified for the job, but she was a military officer.

4 minutes, 12 seconds

She had time on the Hill, and that's important because ODNI is a coordinating over 18 different agencies, over 100 ,000 people involved in it.

4 minutes, 21 seconds

The people who run those agencies are still going to be the experts, and the people on the Hill are going to go to those people and not him, because they know.

4 minutes, 29 seconds

But I think what you saw down in Georgia, when Tulsi Gabbert was at a criminal search warrant for voting information from Fulton County showed that she was willing to do certain things.

4 minutes, 40 seconds

And I think the loyalty is the biggest thing.

4 minutes, 43 seconds

And why you have someone doing two jobs is you can't find enough loyal people that will do anything to fill them.

4 minutes, 49 seconds

I think that's why Mark Rubio is doing three, and now he's going to be doing too. It just it takes confidence out of ODNI position.

4 minutes, 57 seconds

I think it is a position that doesn't need to be there any longer.

5 minutes, 1 second

It was an offshoot from 9-11 and him filling it just kind of shows that It really is in a position that anyone needs to be in that has any experience.

5 minutes, 10 seconds

Well, we know also this is a president who likes to have acting whatever, right?

5 minutes, 16 seconds

The big roles filled by acting folks because they don't need confirmation.

5 minutes, 21 seconds

And it gives him a little bit more room, I guess, to sort of do as he will.

5 minutes, 27 seconds

Rebecca, Pulte took this relatively low-profile role as the director of the Federal Housing Agency

5 minutes, 34 seconds

and turned it into this notorious sort of position by targeting Lisa Cook and Adam Schiff and Letitia James with these mortgage fraud investigations.

5 minutes, 44 seconds

And now to put him in charge of the entire U .S.

5 minutes, 49 seconds

intel apparatus, does that raise any concerns for you about how he'll wield this power? Yeah, absolutely it does.

5 minutes, 56 seconds

I mean, politicization is dangerous from multiple perspectives and it always threatens in a certain way the expertise that comes out of the agency and also faith in whatever fact-finding.

6 minutes, 6 seconds

And in this particular context, I think that's especially concerning because national security is at stake and also democratic principles,

6 minutes, 13 seconds

because somebody in this position, if they were to truly wield their power, could ultimately direct national intelligence against political enemies.

6 minutes, 21 seconds

Essentially, you know, sort of targeting groups within the United States that are dissenters.

6 minutes, 27 seconds

And that, you know, obviously threatens basic democratic values about dissent and the value of people being able to speak out against the particular government.

6 minutes, 35 seconds

And I don't know whether that's part of the purpose of this appointment, but it's certainly a concern one would have if he actually, you know, managed to gain control over this vast mechanism.

6 minutes, 45 seconds

And this timing, of course, is all interesting.

6 minutes, 48 seconds

Any reaction there on the Hill, Michael, from Republicans?

6 minutes, 51 seconds

Would he have any support to be confirmed in this role permanently? We haven't heard anything yet, Ana. Obviously, this is still a developing story.

6 minutes, 59 seconds

Folks are still funneling into the building.

7 minutes, 1 second

But certainly if President Trump tries to install Bill Pulte in a permanent position, in a permanent way for director

7 minutes, 10 seconds

of national intelligence, he could face an uphill battle.

7 minutes, 13 seconds

That's because you're certainly not going to get any Democratic support given the fierce pushback we saw it to those mortgage fraud referrals, also the fact that he hasn't served in an intelligence position.

7 minutes, 23 seconds

But you can also face some issues with Republicans.

7 minutes, 25 seconds

The first stop that his nomination would be would be the Senate Intelligence Committee.

7 minutes, 30 seconds

It's made up of nine Republicans and Democrats, which means that if just one Republican votes against advancing his nomination, that could block him from advancing.

7 minutes, 38 seconds

And you have two Republicans that I'll be keeping a close eye on all in that panel.

7 minutes, 42 seconds

Susan Collins, the moderate Republican

7 minutes, 58 seconds

as being a Republican up on Capitol Hill, given he just lost his primary, did not get President Trump's endorsement.

8 minutes, 4 seconds

Cornyn is also on the Senate Intelligence Committee, so we'll certainly be looking for those two in addition to others to see how they feel about this nomination because, again,

8 minutes, 12 seconds

if President Trump were to push Bill Pulte in a permanent capacity, he would first have to face the Intelligence Committee. Susan Collins and John Cornyn could hold this on.

8 minutes, 21 seconds

Right.

8 minutes, 22 seconds

He's already facing a lot of pushback on Capitol Hill over another issue.

8 minutes, 26 seconds

And I can't help but wonder if this is to detract from that other issue involving his nearly $1 .8 billion DOJ settlement fund.

8 minutes, 35 seconds

And, Jake, we're learning that the administration is dropping the plan for this fund.

8 minutes, 40 seconds

Is it gone for good? Yeah, Ana, that's a good question.

8 minutes, 44 seconds

Because what we do know is that the president has been privately behind the scenes looking to potentially drop this fund for the

8 minutes, 53 seconds

I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE UNPOPULAR AND TO BE CLEAR, WAS WILDLY UNPOPULAR EVEN AMONGST CONGRESSIONAL

9 minutes, 1 second

REPUBLICANS WHO PUSH BACK PRIVATELY AND This is something that also top Trump aides, according to White House officials that spoke

9 minutes, 8 seconds

to my colleague Jackie Alimany, say was not something that they could get behind.

9 minutes, 12 seconds

This was something really tough to defend publicly. The question of is it gone for good?

9 minutes, 16 seconds

I think there's a IS A LITTLE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS THERE THAT'S STILL UNCLEAR BECAUSE WHENEVER WE REACH OUT TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO CLARIFY, IS THIS WEAPONIZATION FUND TO THE TUNE OF $1 .8 BILLION.

9 minutes, 28 seconds

THEY POINT US TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S STATEMENT THAT CAME OUT YESTERDAY WHERE THEY CLARIFIED THAT THEY DISAGREE WITH THAT DISTRICT JUDGES

9 minutes, 35 seconds

THEY'RE GOING TO ADHERE TO THE COURT.

9 minutes, 39 seconds

THAT COURT HEARING DATE IS GOING TO BE ON JUNE 12th AND SO IF THE WHITE HOUSE PLANS TO FIGHT THE COURTS HERE, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S STILL unclear.

9 minutes, 45 seconds

But what we're being told at this moment from White House officials is, for now, the Weaponization Fund is dead. But that, for now, is really key. Yeah.

9 minutes, 52 seconds

And Rebecca, we don't really know at this point what it means for the other part of this settlement deal, which was this immunity from any ongoing tax audits for Trump and his family and his businesses.

10 minutes, 5 seconds

So we're still working on the reporting on that. But how do you see this?

10 minutes, 8 seconds

Because there was the revived court proceedings over this whole IRS lawsuit to begin with and how this settlement fund came to be.

10 minutes, 18 seconds

Will any of that legally proceed?

10 minutes, 20 seconds

You know, it's quite confusing because in a certain way, this is sort of extra legal.

10 minutes, 26 seconds

It's outside of the legal system because it doesn't adhere to our normal expectations of how a settlement ought to function, how a court case ought to function.

10 minutes, 34 seconds

We don't normally have, you you know, a party, essentially Donald Trump suing his own DOJ for having done something

10 minutes, 41 seconds

back when he controlled the Department of Justice. Very confusing.

10 minutes, 46 seconds

So what you have is courts trying to apply their normal processes to an abnormal situation, which makes any kind of prediction sort of difficult.

10 minutes, 55 seconds

But it seems to me like these cases will probably proceed because there hasn't been any official action that undermines the case in front of them.

11 minutes, 4 seconds

So a judge could decide to see it through and ultimately determine whether there was ethical or other types of violations?

11 minutes, 13 seconds

They could.

11 minutes, 14 seconds

Unless there's some kind of more official dropping of the case.

11 minutes, 18 seconds

I mean, essentially what the government has said is so unclear that they're adhering to that.

11 minutes, 23 seconds

Well, of course, one normally adheres to a court's decision.

11 minutes, 27 seconds

So what does that mean, if that means you're actually dropping your position, well, that is something different.

11 minutes, 33 seconds

And I'm not exactly sure how that would procedurally go forward, but that's not exactly what they said. They just said they're adhering.

11 minutes, 40 seconds

So if you adhere to a court decision, then the court simply moves forward with what's going on.

11 minutes, 45 seconds

If you're adhering and you're no longer contesting, then that's a different story.

11 minutes, 49 seconds

But the language is vague here, and it's a little bit hard to figure out what that means from a legal perspective.

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