&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Hegseth ousts Intel chief after leak reveals US strikes barely delayed Iran’s nuclear programme, contradicting Trump’s ‘obliteration’ claim")
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed the head of America’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), in a dramatic shake-up inside the Pentagon, according to US media reports. Lt Gen Jeffery Kruse, who led the DIA, is said to have been dismissed just weeks after a White House clash over a leaked report assessing US strikes on Iran. Two other senior commanders have also reportedly been forced out.
Why was the DIA chief removed?
The Pentagon has given no official explanation for Kruse’s exit. But it comes shortly after President Donald Trump publicly attacked a DIA assessment which claimed that recent strikes on Iran had only delayed its nuclear programme by a few months. The White House branded the report “flat out wrong”, while Trump insisted the nuclear sites had been “completely destroyed” and called the criticism “an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history”. At the Nato summit in June, Hegseth described the intelligence report as “low intelligence” and confirmed that the FBI was investigating the leak.
More top commanders pushed out
According to Reuters, Hegseth has also removed the chief of the US Naval reserves and the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command. The Washington Post first reported Kruse’s dismissal.
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The DIA, part of the Pentagon, is responsible for gathering and analysing military intelligence to support US operations worldwide. It is separate from agencies such as the CIA, with a particular focus on technical and battlefield intelligence.
Critics warn of “loyalty test”
US Senator Mark Warner said Kruse’s removal showed Trump had a “dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country”. The firing follows a wider pattern. Trump has previously ordered the dismissal of officials who produced reports that contradicted his claims.
In July, he called for the Labour Statistics commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, to be sacked “immediately” after jobs data showed slowing growth. Earlier in April, he removed General Timothy Haugh as head of the National Security Agency, alongside several senior staff at the National Security Council.
