Washington — US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Federal Housing Finance Regulator Bill Bolte is taking his position His selection for the position of Director of National IntelligenceIt will not be his “permanent” choice for the crucial security post.
The Republican president’s announcement that he was ruling out appointing Bolte to the full-time position came after bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill in recent days over Bolte’s lack of experience in national security. The position requires Senate confirmation, something lawmakers have indicated is unlikely if Bolte is the nominee.
“It’s not going to be permanent because, you know, I don’t think he wants it to be permanent,” Trump said while taking questions in the Oval Office. It happened on coal. He described Bolte as a “very smart guy” and said he might look into the past election, which Trump claims, without credible evidence, was the case. “Fake” Against him.
Trump said that other candidates are under consideration for this position. “We’re interviewing people now,” he said.
Pulte, grandson of PulteGroup founder A source of controversy Within the administration for his work as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and his oversight of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Bolte has used his position to go after Trump’s perceived political rivals over alleged mortgage fraud and has verbally attacked Jerome Powell, whose term as Fed chairman recently ended months after Trump and Bolte attacked him for not lowering the central bank’s benchmark interest rates. The Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Authority also proposed A 50 year mortgageThis is a counterproductive idea because it means that the process of building wealth through home ownership will slow down.
Both Republican and Democratic senators have expressed concerns about Bolte and his lack of national security credentials in assuming the role of coordinating 18 federal agencies involved in domestic and foreign security issues. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s initial director of national intelligence, He resigned last monthCiting her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said the job of director of national intelligence should not be a “weapon” and should be led by “professionals.”
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and John Cornyn of Texas, who are leaving the chamber after this year’s election, also expressed concerns about Polte.
Democratic senators view Bolte as a danger even if he serves only temporarily as director of national intelligence while retaining his position at the Federal Housing Administration.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, sent a letter to Trump on Thursday asking him to revoke Bolte’s appointment to the national security post.
“Americans cannot trust him to protect our nation and refrain from misusing sensitive information to which he will have access,” Warren wrote, adding that giving Bolte the job on an acting basis was a risk because Trump’s own words suggested the federal agency could be used “to promote theories of election denial.”
At a hearing on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Besent confirmed reports that he had threatened to fight Polte in September 2025, a sign of the friction the federal housing finance director has created within the administration.
But as a frequent traveler on Air Force One, Bolt has a close relationship with Trump.
“He’s a person of high integrity,” Trump said Thursday of Bolte.