Trump nominates Jay Clayton as top US intelligence official after pushback on Bill Pulte

Donald Trump has nominated Jay Clayton, former head of the top US markets watchdog, to be the country’s leading intelligence official.

The US president faced widespread criticism of his decision to install a controversial ally, Bill Pulte, as acting director of National Intelligence while searching for a permanent candidate.

Clayton, former chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, is US attorney for the southern district of New York.

“I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible,” Trump wrote in a statement on his Truth Social platform.

As the US attorney in Manhattan, Clayton oversees the largest and most prestigious of the justice department’s prosecution offices, with a vast portfolio ranging from terrorism and espionage cases to security fraud and public corruption.

Trump has doubled down on naming Pulte acting director even has he emphasized it would be a short-term job. The president said he wanted Pulte to downsize the office, which has already been significantly scaled back in his second term.

Tulsi Gabbard said she needed to leave the post as director of National Intelligence because her husband is being treated for cancer. The job oversees the coordination of 18 agencies.

In naming Clayton for the post, Trump also highlighted his past leadership at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which Trump described as “one of the most prominent and successful Law Firms anywhere in the World”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.