The head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency is being removed, a senior defense official said Friday, the latest in a series of senior military leaders ousted under President Donald Trump during his second term.
The removal of Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who has led the DIA since early 2024, comes after the agency produced a preliminary assessment concluding that U.S. strikes on Iran in June set back Tehran’s nuclear program by only a few months.
That assessment — widely reported in U.S. media — contradicted Trump’s public claims that the strikes had “totally destroyed” Iran’s nuclear sites, angering both the president and members of his administration.
Kruse “will no longer serve as DIA director,” the senior defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity and without providing further explanation.
Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen what critics call a purge of senior officers, including Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was fired without explanation in February.
