Donald Trump’s new acting spy chief Richard Grenell will oversee 17 agencies but has no intelligence experience
- Grenell has been announced as acting director of national intelligence, so does not require Senate confirmation, after serving as ambassador to Germany
- Trump has ‘selected an individual without any intelligence experience to serve as the leader of the nation’s intelligence community’, one critic said
US President Donald Trump announced that Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany, will become acting director of national intelligence (DNI), a move that puts a staunch Trump ally in charge of the nation’s 17 spy agencies, which the president has only tepidly embraced.
“Rick has represented our Country exceedingly well and I look forward to working with him,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
“I would like to thank Joe Maguire for the wonderful job he has done,” Trump tweeted, “and we look forward to working with him closely, perhaps in another capacity within the Administration!”
Grenell, a loyal and outspoken Trump supporter, has been the US ambassador to Germany since 2018. He previously served as US spokesman at the United Nations in the George W. Bush administration, including under then-ambassador John Bolton.
News of the announcement was quickly criticised by those who said the job should be held by someone with deep experience in intelligence. Trump named Grenell acting DNI, meaning he would not have to be confirmed by the Senate.