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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dismissed the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), as reported by two sources with knowledge of the situation.
A senior defense official, who wished to remain unnamed, informed The Hill on Friday that Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse “will no longer serve” as the director of the military intelligence organization.
Kruse’s removal from his position was confirmed by a spokesperson for the DIA, who noted that deputy director Christine Bordine will take on the responsibilities of acting director “effective immediately.”
The dismissal of Kruse, who had become the 23rd director of the DIA last year, is part of the administration’s ongoing changes to the U.S. national security and military leadership.
In an unexpected announcement, the Air Force revealed on Monday that its chief of staff, Gen. David Allvin, plans to retire in November after completing just two years of his four-year term.
The DIA gained attention earlier this summer when its initial, low-confidence assessment was leaked shortly after the U.S. military’s June actions against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The report indicated that Iran’s nuclear efforts had been delayed by only a few months, leading to significant criticism from President Trump, his supporters, and Israeli officials.
The Defense Department said in early July that Iran’s nuclear program was set back one to two years.
The termination of Kruse, who was the director of intelligence of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from 2016 to 2019, sparked criticism from a top Senate Democrat.
“The firing of yet another senior national security official underscores the Trump administration’s dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country. General Kruse is a career military officer with decades of distinguished, non-partisan service to our nation, making this ouster all the more troubling,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement on Friday.
Kruse’s ouster was first reported by The Washington Post.
