New Delhi: Soon after Tulsi Gabbard resigned as Director of National Intelligence in the US last month, President Donald Trump Tuesday announced William ‘Bill’ Pulte as her successor. A close ally of the president, Pulte is often referred to as ‘Little Trump’ and currently heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
Making the announcement in a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.”
Pulte, however, has no experience in national security and is seen to have risen through the ranks with massive donations to the Trump campaign.
Since March 2025, he has been heading the FHFA, which oversees and regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-sponsored enterprises meant to stabilise and provide liquidity to the US housing market.
According to a report in The Guardian, Pulte has used his role to publicly accuse Trump’s opponents, making “extraordinary allegations” on social media and referring them for investigation. He has accused US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to be appointed to the Board of Governors, of mortgage fraud. Cook has denied wrongdoing.
Even Senate Republicans appeared uneasy with Pulte’s promotion, with John Thune, Senate majority leader, telling reporters that “we don’t need a weaponised” national intelligence director and Pulte would have “a lengthy road ahead of him” if he were nominated to take the post on a permanent basis. He is currently acting Director of National Intelligence.
“If they nominate him to take the position permanently, he’ll have to go through a confirmation process and hearings and everything else,” Thune was reported as saying.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said in a statement: “Elevating him (Pulte) to oversee the Intelligence Community makes clear that this president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president’s wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people.”
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‘Little Trump’
Pulte, 37, is best known as the heir to the fortune of PulteGroup, one of US’ largest homebuilders. Despite his family links, The New York Times reported, Pulte no longer has any official connection to the group, and was removed from its board in 2020.
Pulte cultivated close ties with Trump and members of his family through political donations, regular appearances at Trump-owned resort Mar-a-Lago and public displays of loyalty. Admiring supporters have nicknamed him “Little Trump”, a reference to both his aggressive style and his tendency to mirror the president’s political instincts.
Inside the administration, however, Pulte is seen as a polarising figure.
According to the Wall Street Journal, former administration officials describe him as unusually aggressive in pursuing investigations involving Trump’s critics. His efforts to scrutinise mortgage records connected with political opponents prompted internal complaints and scrutiny from ethics officials.
“He was carrying a ‘Ghostbusters’-style poster that featured pictures of administration officials and outside allies, outlined by red circles with lines through their faces, according to officials familiar with the meeting,” the WSJ report said.
Some of those officials were later removed from their positions amid broader personnel changes at housing agencies overseen by Pulte. The Government Accountability Office has also examined aspects of his conduct at the housing finance agency.
Citing people familiar with internal discussions, the report stated that some Trump advisers grew so frustrated by Pulte’s efforts to gain access to the president that steps were taken to limit unscheduled encounters.
Even so, Trump has repeatedly defended Pulte and resisted suggestions from aides that he should be removed from his housing finance post.
According to the same WSJ report, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, at a dinner at a private club last year, grew so angry with Pulte that he threatened to punch him “in the f—ing face” for badmouthing him. However, Trump had intervened and asked both of them “to play nice”.
Pulte since then has emerged as one of the Trump administration’s most forceful advocates for returning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the public markets. He has also floated the idea of consolidating aspects of the mortgage-finance system under a new entity that he has referred to as the “Great American Mortgage Corporation”.
The proposal would mark a significant shift for the two mortgage-finance giants which have remained under federal conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a central role in the housing market by purchasing mortgages and packaging them into securities that carry government backing.
Pulte’s push for a rapid public offering has reportedly become a source of tension with Bessent, who favours a more measured approach out of concern that a rushed process may unsettle financial markets and put upward pressure on mortgage rates.
“At a time when the US is at war and the threats to national security loom large, we need a Director of National Intelligence who is knowledgeable, experienced, and respected. Bill Pulte is none of these things. He politicised and weaponised the housing agencies and will do the same in the intelligence community. And Americans will be less safe as a result,” California senator Adam Schiff, who was charged with mortgage fraud by Pulte, posted on X Tuesday.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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