Pete Hegseth (left), Jeffrey Kruse (AP)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Lt General Jeffrey Kruse as head of the US defense intelligence agency (DIA), following President Donald Trump’s dissatisfaction with the agency’s preliminary assessment of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, according to AP and other media reports.Kruse’s firing, first reported by The Washington Post, comes weeks after the agency’s initial intelligence estimate – which suggested Iran’s nuclear program had only been delayed by a few months – was leaked to the media. This contradicted President Trump’s public claim that the Iranian programme had been “completely and fully obliterated.”“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated – choose your word. This was an historically successful attack,” Hegseth said in a June press conference, defending the operation but without providing evidence.According to officials familiar with the matter, the decision was not publicly explained and comes amid a broader shake-up in the US military and intelligence leadership. Trump has previously removed officials whose reports or data contradict his public stance, including those in charge of jobs data and public health information. Kruse’s dismissal follows other senior-level exits, including air force general CQ Brown Jr, general Tim Haugh (NSA chief), and several senior legal officials across military branches. The office of the director of national intelligence has also announced staff and budget cuts this week.Pentagon officials have not released a formal statement on the rationale behind Kruse’s removal. Analysts say the move reflects continuing friction between military intelligence assessments and the Trump administration’s messaging.
