Trump to nominate US attorney Jay Clayton as director of National Intelligence Donald Trump News

The appointment comes as he pushes back against Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte to be the agency’s acting chief.

United States President Donald Trump has announced that he will nominate Attorney General Jay Clayton to be the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

Thursday’s announcement comes as he pushes back against Trump’s decision to nominate Bill Pulte as director of the US intelligence community after Tulsi Gabbard stepped down from the role.

Trump loyalist Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no intelligence or military experience.

Democrats have vowed to block foreign intelligence powers if Trump doesn’t name a new DNI, and a minority of Republicans. call the president change direction.

Although Pulte was only drafted as a playmaker, he remained with the team 210 days after taking office. Without a formal nomination, he would not have been confirmed by the Senate.

Writing on his Truth Social account, Trump praised Clayton, who is currently the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Few people anywhere in the legal community are respected on Jay’s level,” Trump wrote. “I urge the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.

Clayton’s confirmation will require a majority vote in the US Senate, where Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats.

The nomination comes just a day after Trump, posting on Social Truth, he advised Pulte to cut staff at the office that oversees and coordinates 18 intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA).

Gabbard, a former Democrat who endorsed Trump ahead of the 2024 election, announced last month that she was stepping down, citing her husband’s cancer treatment.

Gabbard initially embraced Trump because of his anti-interventionist stance.

He remained an aide to the president’s campaign as the US impeachment of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and a war with Iran appeared to cloud his views.