President Donald Trump announced Tuesday morning that Bill Pulte, the 38-year-old director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will serve as acting director of national intelligence following Tulsi Gabbard's planned departure from the role.
Gabbard recently revealed she would step back from her post as her husband, Abraham Williams, battles a rare form of bone cancer. On Tuesday morning, she wrote on social media that the two were preparing for his surgery.
The move places a housing finance executive, not a career intelligence official, atop the nation's sprawling intelligence apparatus. It also hands Pulte a dual portfolio: Trump said the 38-year-old will keep his FHFA and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac titles while simultaneously running the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Trump made the announcement on social media, framing Pulte's financial stewardship as proof he can handle the intelligence community's most sensitive work. As the Daily Mail reported, the president wrote:
"I am appointing the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, William J Pulte, to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence."
Trump continued by touting Pulte's record at FHFA:
"William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over ten Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago."
The logic is straightforward: if a man can oversee more than ten trillion dollars in government-backed mortgage exposure, he can manage classified briefings and coordinate seventeen intelligence agencies. Whether Washington's entrenched intelligence bureaucracy sees it that way is another matter.
Gabbard's exit is personal, not political. She stepped back after disclosing that Williams faces a rare form of bone cancer. On Tuesday morning, she posted a message of gratitude to supporters ahead of his surgery.
"We are getting ready to head to the hospital for my husband's surgery and just wanted to say thank you so much to all of who have shared messages, prayers and well wishes for Abraham."
No effective date for Gabbard's formal resignation has been disclosed. Nor has the administration detailed the legal or administrative mechanism by which Pulte assumes the acting role. Those gaps will matter, especially to Senate intelligence committee members who may have views on who sits atop the DNI.
Pulte is the grandson of William J. Pulte, who founded the Pulte Group, a construction company now worth more than $22 billion. The younger Pulte carved out his own public identity on Twitter, now X, beginning in 2019, when he launched what he called philanthropic giveaways on the platform. He would routinely hand out cash to random followers, with sums ranging from a few thousand dollars to much more. Pulte has claimed to have given away over $1 million through those efforts.
The approach built a massive following. By 2022, his follower count had risen to over three million.
Pulte is also a Mar-a-Lago member and has been spotted frequenting Trump's golf resorts. His proximity to the president is well established, and so, apparently, is his willingness to use it.
Pulte's rise has not been without friction inside the administration. He reportedly feuded with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and the clash turned personal. At a dinner with multiple Cabinet officials in September, Bessent reportedly confronted Pulte after learning that Pulte had been criticizing him to the president.
Bessent's reported words were blunt. He allegedly told Pulte: "Why the f*** are you talking to the President about me? F*** you." And then: "I'm gonna punch you in your f***ing face."
Whether the two have since patched things up is unclear. But a Treasury secretary threatening to hit the acting intelligence director would make for an unusual interagency dynamic.
Beginning in April, Pulte took aim at several prominent political figures, accusing New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Senator Adam Schiff, and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud. All three denied wrongdoing.
The targets are notable. James brought charges against Trump. Schiff led an impeachment inquiry into Trump. Cook fought back against the president's attempt to fire her from the Federal Reserve Board, a case now before the Supreme Court.
Pulte's critics will call the accusations politically motivated. His defenders will say the FHFA director is doing his job and following the evidence wherever it leads. What no one disputes is that the man Trump just placed atop the intelligence community has already shown a taste for going after the president's opponents using the regulatory tools at his disposal.
Pulte has reportedly sold the president on the idea of proposing a new 50-year mortgage, a concept that would dramatically extend homeownership timelines and, depending on the terms, could reshape the housing market. The proposal has not been formally unveiled, but it signals the kind of unconventional thinking Pulte brings to his roles.
Then there is the lighter side. Pulte reportedly discussed a meme depicting him as Jesus Christ before it was posted. The details are thin, but the episode captures something about Pulte's public persona: part policy operator, part social-media showman, and entirely comfortable with attention.
The announcement raises questions the administration has not yet addressed. How long will Pulte serve as acting DNI? Will Trump nominate a permanent replacement, or does he intend for Pulte to hold the role indefinitely? Can one person credibly run both the FHFA, overseeing trillions in mortgage-backed securities, and the intelligence community at the same time?
There is also the matter of Senate confirmation. Acting appointments bypass that process, at least temporarily. Intelligence community veterans and lawmakers from both parties may push for a permanent, Senate-confirmed nominee sooner rather than later.
And there is the broader pattern. Trump has consistently chosen loyalists who operate outside traditional career tracks for his most sensitive posts. Gabbard herself was an unconventional pick, a former Democratic congresswoman turned Trump ally. Pulte is, if anything, even further from the intelligence establishment's usual talent pipeline.
For those who believe the intelligence community has earned deep distrust, after years of politicized assessments, the Russia-collusion debacle, and institutional resistance to elected leadership, putting an outsider in charge is not a bug. It is the point.
Pulte has no intelligence background. But he has the president's confidence, a track record of managing enormous financial portfolios, and a demonstrated willingness to challenge entrenched interests. Whether those qualities translate to running the DNI is the open question.
Gabbard, for her part, deserves nothing but goodwill as she steps away to be with her husband during his fight against cancer. The role she leaves behind is one of the most consequential in government. Filling it with someone the president trusts completely is the prerogative of the office.
The real test is whether Pulte can do the job, not whether his résumé matches what the Beltway expects. Washington's credentialed class has had its turn running the intelligence community. The results speak for themselves.