Trump says he will nominate Jay Clayton as US director of national intelligence

Donald Trump has said he will nominate federal prosecutor Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence, in a move that would put a new figure forward to lead the US intelligence community. The announcement came on Thursday amid criticism over Trump's decision to make Bill Pulte the acting head of the office after Tulsi Gabbard resigned from the post. The role oversees and coordinates the work of 18 intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

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Trump said Clayton is currently the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and previously served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump praised Clayton's standing in the legal community and urged the Senate to confirm him as soon as possible. Clayton's confirmation would require a majority vote in the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats.

The nomination follows a period of pushback over the acting arrangement for the intelligence post. Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no intelligence or military experience, according to the report, and Democrats had vowed to withhold foreign intelligence powers if Trump did not name a new DNI. A number of Republicans also called on the president to change course.

Pulte could technically remain in the acting role for 210 days after taking office, but not being formally nominated would allow him to avoid Senate confirmation. The move matters because the director of national intelligence sits at the centre of the US intelligence system and helps coordinate agencies with wide-ranging national security responsibilities. The office became vacant after Gabbard announced last month that she was leaving, citing her husband's cancer treatment.

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Her departure and the temporary appointment of Pulte have turned the post into a point of political dispute, with questions over experience, oversight and the timing of a permanent nomination. Clayton's background also places the nomination in a broader pattern of Trump choosing figures with legal and regulatory experience for senior posts. As US attorney in New York, Clayton is already part of the federal justice system, and his previous role at the Securities and Exchange Commission gave him experience leading a major regulatory agency.

Supporters are likely to present that as evidence of administrative experience, while critics may focus on the sensitivity of the intelligence role and the lack of a direct intelligence background in the acting arrangement. What remains unclear is how quickly the Senate will take up Clayton's nomination and whether any further changes will be made to the acting leadership of the office before then. It is also not yet clear whether the criticism over Pulte's temporary appointment will ease once a formal nominee is in place.

The immediate focus will be on the confirmation process and on who is ultimately responsible for overseeing the intelligence community in the meantime.

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