Washington, 23 August 2025 — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed Lt Gen Jeffrey Kruse from his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), just weeks after the White House criticized an intelligence assessment on American strikes against Iran.
According to U.S. media reports, Kruse is one of several top commanders recently dismissed. The Pentagon has not provided an official explanation.
In June, a leaked DIA report concluded that U.S. strikes had delayed Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months. President Donald Trump publicly rejected the findings, insisting the attacks had “completely destroyed” Iranian nuclear sites. He described the report as “flat out wrong” and accused the media of downplaying “one of the most successful military strikes in history.”
At the time, Hegseth dismissed the DIA’s assessment as based on “low intelligence” and confirmed the FBI was investigating the leak.
Kruse’s removal was first reported by The Washington Post. Reuters later cited anonymous sources saying the heads of U.S. Naval Reserves and Naval Special Warfare Command were also ordered to step down.
The Defense Intelligence Agency, part of the Pentagon, specializes in military intelligence collection and analysis. Unlike the CIA, its work is focused on supporting military operations.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner warned that Kruse’s dismissal reflected Trump’s “dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for national security.”
The move adds to a growing list of senior officials forced out during Trump’s presidency. In recent months, Trump has dismissed General Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency (April), Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer (July), and Air Force General C.Q. Brown alongside five other officers (February).
The shake-up underscores tensions between the administration and the intelligence community over assessments that contradict the president’s public claims.
