Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte reportedly wanted the president to name and shame some intelligence officials in his Thursday night speech.
According to Politico, which cited “two senior officials,” Pulte encouraged President Donald Trump to name the officials allegedly involved in the concealment of election interference. This issue has been particularly important to the president, who still has issues with the way the 2020 presidential election played out.
But despite Pulte’s reported insistence, he backed down in the end.
“Pulte got really scared by the whole thing and pulled back,” one of the sources said. “He got POTUS all spun up and then was incredibly scared when he realized people could die with his reckless behavior.”
Meanwhile, others within Trump’s circle urged him to stay on script for a more restrained version of the speech out of fear “that it could undermine the president’s broader point about election vulnerabilities and put intelligence analysts’ lives at risk, the two officials said,” the outlet noted.
“They explained the way to be taken seriously is not to be crazy,” the official revealed.
More from the outlet:
Trump on Thursday night declassified documents that he claimed demonstrated startling vulnerabilities in the U.S. election system. He described efforts by China to access U.S. voter rolls and offered details about long-studied risks with electronic voting machines.
The documents, some of which remain heavily redacted, tread on well-worn ground and reflect a genuine split among intelligence analysts who debated and ultimately concluded that China opted against a large-scale influence effort during the 2020 election cycle.
For his part, Pulte wanted “fewer redactions,” Politico claimed.
“There was going to be a lot of crazier shit said,” said a White House official.
“POTUS was happy with the way the speech played,” said the second official. “But I don’t know if he’ll keep pushing this or if this was enough to get it out of his system.”
X users reacted:
Summary: American people voted for accountability. Pulte pushed to deliver accountability. Chief of staff insults Americans who just want accountability. https://t.co/i8iE4ol1hw pic.twitter.com/EYHrQSunyO
— EPEC-EJ (@ErinJoyce) July 18, 2026
DEMS got scared cause voters want the SAVE ACT and POLITICO knows it.
— Maxi5162 (@maxi5162) July 18, 2026
Politico quotes something with no source.
Good job
— Sansal (@kodssansal) July 18, 2026
POLITICO TAKING CHINESE MONEY???
— Blossom1234 (@Blossom12320994) July 18, 2026
Democrats don’t want to read them &don’t care as long as they win. this time it will be the last time for the democrats bc most democrat in office for years are being voted out by others masquerading as democrats! I think they are waking up, but don’t have the guts to do anything
— Ann (@Oliver43281111) July 17, 2026
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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