WASHINGTON, June 5 (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.”
“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump was quoted as saying.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Trump tapped Pulte to take over as interim director of national intelligence when Tulsi Gabbard leaves the post on June 30.
On Thursday, Trump indicated he will not nominate mortgage regulator Pulte to be the nation’s intelligence chief once his temporary appointment expires early next year.
Pulte has faced a backlash from Democrats and some key senators of his Republican Party over the Trump loyalist’s lack of national security experience.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; additional Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; editing by Susan Heavey)