Feb. 23 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has not yet made a decision on who he will nominate to serve as the next director of national intelligence.
Trump named U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as the second acting director of intelligence on Thursday after Dan Coats resigned from the position last August, but said he is weighing multiple candidates for the permanent role.
“This is just a temporary job,” Trump said Sunday. “We have five people that we’re looking at very seriously, expert people and at a certain point in the not too distant future, we’ll be announcing who they are.”
The president also noted that he replaced former acting DNI Joe Maguire with Grenell, who is also serving as the envoy for Germany, because he had to step down from the post by March 11.
“His time came up so he had to leave,” Trump said.
Upon announcing Grenell as the new acting DNI Trump praised Maguire for doing a “wonderful job” in the post, and suggested he may be headed for another administration position.
The selection of Grenell was met with criticism from intelligence officials including Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who said he lacks “any intelligence experience” and accused Trump of attempting to “sidestep” the Senate’s authority to advise and consent.
