Wall Street Journal: “President Trump said he wants Bill Pulte, his incoming acting director of national intelligence, to begin the process of firing a large number of employees as part of a shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community.”

“Trump said he has privately told Pulte that he believes the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, which oversees 18 federal intelligence agencies and units, is ‘unnecessary and/or too big.'”

He added: “I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there.”

President Trump said that Bill Pulte will only serve as national intelligence director on an acting basis, adding that he is interviewing permanent candidates for the position, Bloomberg reports.

Said Trump: “He’s not going to be permanent, because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent.”

“A convicted Jan. 6 rioter who later said that he regretted his participation in the U.S. Capitol attack has been hired by the Trump administration to work inside a Pentagon office that manages highly classified military operations,” the Washington Post reports. 

CNBC: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped Bill Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as acting director of national intelligence.”

“Pulte, who has no prior experience in an intelligence role, will keep his existing titles as FHFA director and chairman of the mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

New York Times: “In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of at least seven Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior Navy admirals.”

“The net result of Mr. Hegseth’s intervention is a slate of 22 nominees to be one-star admirals that bears little resemblance to the broader force these officers will help lead.”

“At least two of the officers removed by Mr. Hegseth from the promotion list are women and two are Black men. An additional three are white men.”

Semafor: “A new Pentagon unit being built to court Wall Street and pitch roughly $200 billion in private equity deals across the defense industry is drawing criticism from congressional Democrats, who are demanding communications, deal records, and conflict-of-interest policies tied to the operation.”

“A commander of an Iran-backed militia has been charged with plotting to attack Jewish sites in the United States, including a synagogue in New York City,” the New York Times reports.

Tom Nichols: “Last week, the Trump administration released the official 2026 United States Counterterrorism Strategy. The document is a mess, replete with typos, hyperbolic assertions, and an obsession with former President Joe Biden.”

“The bigger problem, however, is that it’s not an actual strategy. It’s more a long set of notes for a campaign speech, a repackaging of President Trump’s various preoccupations and prejudices that frames everything the administration doesn’t like as ‘terrorism’ and any actions it has already taken as ‘counterterrorism.’”

Bloomberg: “The US Navy said it plans to buy at least 15 new battleships endorsed by President Donald Trump over the next 30 years, according to its new shipbuilding plan, marking a deeper commitment than previously revealed to what could be the costliest warship ever produced.”

“The U.S. Army is searching for two service members who went missing while taking part in a joint military exercise in Morocco,” the New York Times reports.

Washington Post: “The defense secretary is now more confident than ever in his job security, people familiar with the matter said, and appears to be inoculated against his early missteps thanks to his unflinching loyalty to and close personal relationship with Trump, his willingness to carry out presidential directives with few questions asked and his pugnacious reshaping of the military to root out “woke” people and policies.”

President Trump said the U.S. navy acted “like pirates” as he described an operation seizing a ship amid the American blockade of Iranian ports, The Guardian reports.

Said Trump: “We land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business.”

He added: “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates. But we’re not playing games.”

New York Times: “For months, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have celebrated tentative agreements with defense companies to expand production of Patriot air defense systems, Tomahawk cruise missiles and other weapons believed crucial for a war with China, Russia or North Korea…”

“Trouble is, the administration does not yet have the funding or congressional support for the weapons it needs for the possible future wars. And the Pentagon is diverting munitions deliveries intended for allies for its own use as a stopgap measure until large new arms orders begin.”