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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has dismissed the head of the Pentagon’s intelligence agency, weeks after the White House publicly rebuked a review assessing the impact of American strikes on Iran.
Lt. Gen. Jeffery Kruse will no longer serve as director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), according to a Pentagon statement. Two other senior military commanders have also been removed from their positions by the Department of Defense.
The Defense Department has not yet offered an explanation for the dismissals.
In June, President Donald Trump publicly disputed a leaked DIA report that concluded that attacks on Iran had only delayed its nuclear program by a matter of months. The White House deemed the agency’s assessment “flat out wrong.”
President Trump had stated that nuclear sites in Iran were “completely destroyed” and accused the media of “an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history.”
Speaking at a NATO summit at the time, Secretary Hegseth characterized the report as based on “low intelligence” and indicated that the FBI was investigating the leak.
Kruse’s departure was initially reported by The Washington Post.
The DIA, a component of the Pentagon, specializes in military intelligence to support operations. While it gathers substantial technical intelligence, it operates independently from agencies such as the CIA.
Reuters reported on Friday, citing an anonymous source, that Secretary Hegseth also ordered the removal of the chief of U.S. Naval Reserves and the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command.
In a statement, U.S. Senator Mark Warner cautioned that Kruse’s dismissal suggests President Trump has a “dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country.”
President Trump has previously removed officials whose analyses have been perceived as conflicting with his views.
In July, President Trump stated that he directed his team to “immediately” dismiss Commissioner of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer following a report indicating a slowdown in job growth.
In April, President Trump terminated General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency, along with more than a dozen staff members at the White House National Security Council.
Secretary Hegseth has also removed a number of military officials at the Pentagon. In February, he dismissed Air Force General C.Q. Brown, along with five other admirals and generals.
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