'One of the worst': Trump faces backlash from conservatives after naming 'nut' as DNI

Reporter painstakingly details how Trump’s DNI pick will hijack intel apparatus

President Donald Trump named Bill Pulte to oversee the entire national security apparatus of the United States. He will serve in the job while also remaining in his current job as Federal Housing Finance Agency Director. This adds to Pulte's other job, chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Pulte has a history of using his government position to aid Trump's retribution campaign, targeting Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Cook was never charged by the Justice Department and James' charges were dismissed. You know, to call this appointment an unorthodox one, I think, would be an understatement," said senior CNN reporter Kevin Liptak. "You know, he's the heir to a construction company, fortune. He's been in this mortgage role for the last year or so. What he is, is a real, true Trump loyalist. You know, he's a frequent guest on Air Force One and at Mar-a-Lago. And what you've seen him doing is leveraging this role that he's in at the mortgage agency to try and go after some of Trump's perceived enemies..."While the Cook efforts have failed, Liptak said that it has likely "engendered an enormous amount of goodwill towards him by the president."He noted the seriousness of the Director of National Intelligence post, overseeing 17 intelligence agencies. The post was created after Sept. 11, 2001, when a report found there was intelligence ahead of time that an attack was imminent, but that bureaucratic silos prevented the various intelligence agencies from connecting all of the dots. Liptak said that Trump has relied more on the CIA for international intelligence than he did on Gabbard. "He looked to her to, sort of, go after some of his obsessions, whether it's to try and advance claims of voting fraud, whether it was to try and downplay allegations of Russian election meddling," said Liptak. "This, I think, suggests that the president will put in this position someone who has gone after this retribution campaign, who has advanced some ideas of vindication against some of his enemies. [Trump] doesn't say whether he will be appointing him to the permanent job, but because Bill Pulte was already approved by the Senate for his current job, he will be able to stay in this position for quite some time."CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked whether the White House had yet to explain what qualifies Pulte to run the nation's intelligence apparatus."The only qualifications that the White House has specified is what President Trump is pointing out on his Truth Social, which is what he calls experience 'managing the most sensitive matters in America,'" Liptak said."I do think you can read into what Pulte has used his job to do as how President Trump views the DNI position," Liptak continued. "He has used his access to the mortgage information in his current position to go after Trump's perceived enemies. And I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that he would use his access as the intelligence director to also potentially advance the retribution campaign. That has been the most prominent way we have seen Bill Pulte act in the job that he is currently in."Trump, he explained, has put a "premium on trying to go after his enemies, but also has been frustrated that [it's] not been particularly effective or particularly quick so far in his term."It's one of the reasons Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Pulte, wrote Will Neal for the Daily Beast in November, "has reportedly made such a song and dance of pandering to the president that it’s starting to drive other aides insane."

Marco Rubio sweats when pressed on secret Trump admin memo: ‘They don’t want us to see’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pressed Tuesday over the Trump administration’s refusal to grant lawmakers access to an official government memo on the U.S. war against Iran, one that Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) suspected may have “something in there you don’t want us to see.”Rubio testified Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his first appearance before the body since the war against Iran was launched in late February. Kaine, a member of the committee, asked Rubio why the Trump administration has, to date, refused to share with lawmakers the written opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) on the war against Iran, despite having done so for other recent conflicts.“We can agree with it or not, but the administration presented a legal opinion from the [Justice Department on Operation Southern Spear] that we could review. Absolute Resolve, the effort against [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro, the administration presented a legal rationale that we could review,” Kaine said. “Now, we could review both in classified, they've not been made public. We're 92 days into a war against Iran and the administration will not let Congress look at the OLC legal opinion justifying the war.”Kaine pressed Rubio for answers given the $1.5 trillion defense spending request Congress is being asked to approve, a request that represents an approximate 40% increase of the previous year’s defense spending. He also argued that the Trump administration’s hesitancy to share the OLC opinion on the war against Iran gave lawmakers cause for concern.“Mr. Secretary, you know what kind of thinking we do. If you showed us the legal rationale for two wars and you won't show us the legal rationale for the third... is there something in the rationale they don't want us to see?” Kaine said. “Is there a dissenting opinion that says it's not legal? Are there conditions like you can't strike civilian infrastructure like schools and bridges? Are there factual assertions like the war will be over in two days, or Iran will never close the Strait of Hormuz? By not sharing the legal opinion, you give us the opinion that there's something in there that you don't want us to see.”Kaine then asked Rubio if he would use his “influence” in the administration to press for the OLC legal opinion to be shared with lawmakers.“I can certainly inquire as to why it has not been available,” Rubio said before stumbling his words. “I don't think there's a reason why... I... I am not aware that... I'm – in fact, my understanding is that they have provided documentation to the committee.”Kaine interjected, clarifying that the Trump administration had provided “documentation” to lawmakers but not the OLC legal opinion. Kaine also asserted that Rubio, as a former U.S. senator himself, would “not accept” being denied access to a critical government memo.“Alright, well let me take that back and ask the Office of Legal Counsel,” Rubio conceded. “I'll take that back.”"You give us the opinion that there's something in there that you don't want us to see."Sen. @timkaine presses SOS @marcorubio on why the OLC legal opinion on the Iran war has not been shared with lawmakers."Is there a dissenting opinion that says it's not legal?" pic.twitter.com/vPnGdRufdL— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) June 2, 2026

The Greek portmanteau that explains why Trump nominations are getting even worse

On Tuesday morning, the New York Times' Maggie Gallagher reported that President Donald Trump had appointed MAGA loyalist Bill Pulte as acting national intelligence director despite the fact that he "has no known background in intelligence, military or national security." According to journalist Derek Thompson, the Pulte appointment is a glaring example of Trump's willingness to promote his loyalists to key positions that they are woefully unqualified for.Linking to Gallagher's reporting on Pulte on X, formerly Twitter, Thompson (known for his writing for The Atlantic) tweeted, "'Late Kakistocracy' is that phase of democratic decline where the regime starts running out of ppl who will work for it, and so the folks who aren't qualified for their current positions are promoted to even larger positions for which they are even more unqualified."The term "kakistocracy" comes from two Greek words: "kákistos" (worst) and "krátos" (rule). And together, they mean "government by the worst people." Trump's Pulte appointment follows the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman turned MAGA Republican, as national intelligence director. Gabbard said she was stepping down to care for her husband, Abraham Williams, who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.Pulte's focus in the second Trump administration has been housing. In 2025, he became director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) as well as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But none of his previous experience in the administration, according to Gallagher, pertained to national security.Gallagher reported, "Mr. Pulte has no known background in intelligence, military or national security, but he is a Trump loyalist who has been among the most aggressive advocates for prosecuting Democrats and others perceived by Mr. Trump as having crossed him…. Mr. Pulte will continue to run the housing agency while taking on the position of director of national intelligence."In order to take over the national security director position permanently, Pulte will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate."On paper, the director of national intelligence, a role created after the September 11 terrorist attacks, is among the most powerful of Cabinet positions, responsible for coordinating the work of the CIA and a host of other agencies," Gallagher noted. "But Mr. Trump has never seen it as an important role, his advisers have said previously, and in his first term, he believed the staff working for that office were leaking information about him."Gallagher added, "The fact that Mr. Pulte will serve in an acting role, as opposed to facing Republican senators during a confirmation hearing for the job, could give him a freer hand in focusing on priorities the president cares about, including looking for evidence that his election loss in 2020 stemmed from fraud, something that Ms. Gabbard was already pursuing."

NEW: Leftists Melt Down as President Trump Reveals His Bold Pick to Replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence

Donald Trump has revealed who will replace Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard following her planned resignation, and the left is very unhappy. The post NEW: Leftists Melt Down as President Trump Reveals His Bold Pick to Replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

MAGA reacts to Trump's former national security adviser's ties to Vladimir Putin

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's first National Security Adviser, has registered as a foreign agent for the Republic of Srpska, a Bosnian Serb entity led by Milorad Dodik, described as President Vladimir Putin's closest European ally. Conservative journalist Scott McMahan confirmed Flynn filed the Foreign Agent Registration Act paperwork and is receiving a monthly payment of $100,000. Trump's loyal online supporters have publicly criticized the move. Conservative personality Catturd questioned the payment's amount. Other MAGA personalities reacted, as well.Sebastian Gorka, Trump's Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council, explained he signed two documents promising not to work for foreign governments when he joined the administration. "In one I promised to not work as a lobbyist for a decade. In the second, I promised to never work for another government. I was happy to sign both. I presume GEN Flynn also signed similar documents."The story further evolved when national security analyst and investigative journalist Ryan Mauro, reported Glenn Diesen, a Norwegian political scientist associated with Russian ultranationalist Alexander Dugin, spoke at a recent Flynn event alongside former CBS journalist and conservative commentator Lara Logan. Flynn, who previously pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about Russian contacts before receiving a Trump pardon, has not publicly responded.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.

MAGA world revolts as Trump's ex-national security adviser exposed as agent for Putin ally

Some of Donald Trump's most loyal online supporters are pushing back against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, after a report revealed he has registered as a foreign agent for a Bosnian Serb entity led by one of Vladimir Putin's closest European allies.Scott McMahan, a conservative journalist who writes under the handle BiggerTruth and first reported the story roughly a month ago, confirmed Monday that Flynn has filed paperwork with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Act database on behalf of the Republic of Srpska, the Serb-dominated entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. The entity is led by Milorad Dodik, a Bosnian Serb politician widely described as Putin's most vocal ally in the Balkans. According to McMahan's reporting, Flynn is being paid $100,000 per month.Catturd, the anonymous conservative social media personality with millions of followers and one of the MAGA movement's most recognizable voices, reacted with two words: "$100,000 per month?"Sebastian Gorka, the Hungarian-American who serves as Trump's Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council, took a more pointed approach. "When I joined the first Trump Administration, I was asked to sign two documents," he wrote. "In one I promised to not work as a lobbyist for a decade. In the second, I promised to never work for another government. I was happy to sign both. I presume GEN Flynn also signed similar documents."Brenden Dilley, a conservative media personality and MAGA influencer, said he needed independent confirmation and tagged far-right commentator Laura Loomer directly. "Wait wtf is this? Can you confirm this for me?" he wrote to Loomer.The story grew more complicated when Ryan Mauro, a national security analyst and investigative journalist, reported that Glenn Diesen, a Norwegian political scientist described as a close associate of Alexander Dugin, the Russian ultranationalist philosopher sometimes called "Putin's brain," spoke at an event led by Flynn last week. Conservative commentator and former CBS journalist Lara Logan also participated in the event, Mauro reported.Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials before being pardoned by Trump, has not publicly responded to the FARA filing or the criticism from within MAGA world.$100,000 per month? https://t.co/JBrAVqZzqh— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) June 1, 2026

Trump family IRS immunity quietly moves forward as 'slush fund' pronounced dead: report

The Trump administration is pressing ahead with a legal agreement that permanently shields President Donald Trump, his family members, and his businesses from any IRS probes predating the deal — even as the controversial $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" that emerged from the same settlement has been effectively killed off, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.Under the deal, the IRS is "forever barred" from pursuing any claims related to Trump's tax filings that predated the settlement, according to Bloomberg. A person familiar with the matter told the outlet that the decision to shelve the fund does not affect the audit immunity provision.The fund — created last month as part of a settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns — drew immediate bipartisan fire. Critics labeled it a taxpayer-funded "slush fund" that could enrich Jan. 6 defendants who received presidential pardons.Two police officers who defended the Capitol during the riot sued to block the fund, calling it a vehicle "to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name." U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily halted the fund on May 29, barring the administration from transferring money or considering claims.By Monday, an administration source told Axios bluntly: "It's dead for now."Senate Democrats piled on, with Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) introducing legislation dubbed the Drain the Slush Fund Act. Schiff called it "one of the most brazenly corrupt schemes we've ever seen from a U.S. president."The Justice Department said it "disagrees strongly" with the court's ruling but would comply. The White House referred questions to Trump's personal legal team, which did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.

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