President Donald Trump said Friday that he wants his new acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, to cut the office, which has already been significantly scaled back during his second term.

Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting DNI draws GOP criticism, with senators questioning his qualifications and lack of intelligence experience.

Trump tapped Pulte for the interim position Tuesday.

President Donald Trump says his acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, will not be in the role permanently.

Trump's comment came two days after he tapped Bill Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting DNI to replace Tulsi Gabbard.

Trump repeated that Pulte would only serve as DNI in an "acting position" capacity and that he is "not going to be permanent."

Asked if Bill Pulte has the national security experience for the job, President Trump said he does because he's "smart."

The president’s pick of Pulte to be the acting director of national intelligence has triggered pushback from some Republican and Democratic senators.

The controversial pick received bipartisan pushback when Trump announced he would nominate him to the position.

Under current law, the president can choose from more than 350 federal officials to fill any vacant office, regardless of qualifications.

Critics fear the acting director of national intelligence will use his access to top-secret information to target the president’s foes.

President Trump bragged that Bill Pulte has the power to fire a good chunk of the intel officers since he’s just “acting” director of national intelligence.

Trump said Pulte would only serve in the role for a short period of time.

Embattled acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte won't have the job permanently, President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday.

President said he’d like to see intelligence agencies shrink as Senate blocks Fisa extension amid disquiet over nomination of Bill Pulte

President Trump's comments are sure to roil members of Congress who criticized the appointment of Bill Pulte as acting national intelligence director.

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump said on Friday that he wants Bill Pulte, his new acting director of national intelligence, to cut the office, which has

Trump also suggested that Pulte’s temporary appointment could allow him to make difficult decisions more freely.

President Trump told the Wall Street Journal he may even want to terminate the Office of the Director of National Intelligence altogether.

The Republican president said in an earlier interview with The Wall Street Journal that he has asked Pulte to start the process of firing employees.

En una entrevista con The Wall Street Journal, dijo que quiere que Bill Pulte “inicie el proceso” de despidos y que el eventual director permanente lo continúe