President Donald Trump said Thursday that Bill Pulte won’t be the “permanent” director of national intelligence.
Watch the clip in the video player above.
The president’s pick of Pulte to be the acting director of national intelligence has triggered pushback from some Republican and Democratic senators.
WATCH: Bessent recalls telling acting intelligence director Pulte he was ‘going to kick his ass’
But Trump stressed in response to an Oval Office question that Pulte, who currently serves as Federal Housing Finance Agency director, would not be nominated to the position of coordinating 18 federal agencies involved in national security issues.
“He’s not going to be permanent because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent,” Trump said.
The president said that Pulte is “a very smart guy” and he may look at past elections that Trump claims, without credible evidence, were “rigged” against him.
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But Trump said other candidates were being considered to be nominated for the Senate confirmed post.
“We’re interviewing people right now,” Trump said.
