https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/523385/feed The latest news and top stories on Bill Pulte, Director of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, focusing on housing market safety and accessibility. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The US Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as Donald Trump’s top intelligence official on Tuesday, putting a permanent chief in charge of the country’s spy agencies as the president revives unsupported election fraud claims ahead of the midterms. Senators voted 51-47 to confirm Clayton’s appointment, with all Democrats in the upper chamber voting against it. “Jay is outstanding in every way, and will do a spectacular job as Director!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social shortly after the vote. The... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3362197/us-senate-confirms-clayton-trumps-new-spy-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3362197/us-senate-confirms-clayton-trumps-new-spy-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jul 2026 03:05:47 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin The United States’ nominee for director of national intelligence told lawmakers on Wednesday he could be “extremely helpful” in shaping economic strategy with China during a confirmation hearing that framed Beijing as a leading economic and geopolitical challenge. Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, appeared before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on his nomination, where he was questioned on several key intelligence issues. When pressed on the top three threats... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3360726/trump-intelligence-pick-play-helpful-role-agreeing-economic-strategy-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3360726/trump-intelligence-pick-play-helpful-role-agreeing-economic-strategy-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:14:57 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump suspended a Senate hearing on Jay Clayton’s nomination for intelligence chief, saying on Wednesday he wanted to be sure Clayton’s current post as prosecutor would be filled by the man of his choosing. In a game of musical chairs, Trump picked Clayton, who headed the Securities and Exchange Commission during the president’s first term in office, as his director of national intelligence (DNI). Clayton has served as US attorney for the Southern District of New York – one... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3357446/trump-pauses-spy-chief-hearing-secure-pick-powerful-prosecutor-post?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3357446/trump-pauses-spy-chief-hearing-secure-pick-powerful-prosecutor-post?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:37:59 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he planned to appoint James McDonald as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the federal prosecutor whose office handles many of the most high-profile cases involving Wall Street. McDonald would replace Jay Clayton, whom Trump nominated as US director of national intelligence less than two weeks after a congressional backlash against his interim appointee, housing official Bill Pulte. Trump had tapped Pulte after Tulsi Gabbard, the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3357027/trump-name-james-mcdonald-one-his-lawyers-wall-streets-top-cop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3357027/trump-name-james-mcdonald-one-his-lawyers-wall-streets-top-cop?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jun 2026 22:21:46 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg US President Donald Trump said he is nominating Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence, following backlash over his selection of housing regulator Bill Pulte to serve in the role on an acting basis. Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term. “I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible,” Trump said on social media. Clayton, as US attorney for the Southern... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3356813/trump-taps-wall-street-top-cop-jay-clayton-spy-chief-after-pulte-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3356813/trump-taps-wall-street-top-cop-jay-clayton-spy-chief-after-pulte-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:34:46 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump said Friday he wants his incoming acting spy chief to start firing employees, deepening the controversy over the appointment of a man with no previous intelligence experience. Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was named by the Republican president on Tuesday as acting Director of National Intelligence. “If he cut, I wouldn’t mind that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that the number of employees in Pulte’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3356178/trump-urges-new-spy-chief-pulte-gut-us-intelligence-community?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3356178/trump-urges-new-spy-chief-pulte-gut-us-intelligence-community?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:25:47 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President ⁠Donald Trump on Thursday indicated ⁠that he would not nominate mortgage regulator ⁠Bill Pulte to be the nation’s intelligence chief once his temporary appointment expires early next year. His comments follow a backlash against Pulte’s appointment as acting director of national intelligence from Democrats and some key senators of his Republican Party over the ‌Trump loyalist’s lack of national security experience. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump indicated he would... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3356018/trump-says-he-wont-nominate-pulte-permanent-us-spy-chief-after-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3356018/trump-says-he-wont-nominate-pulte-permanent-us-spy-chief-after-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:38:43 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado US President Donald Trump has named federal housing regulator Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, entrusting oversight of America’s intelligence agencies to a close political ally whose career has been rooted in housing finance rather than national security. Trump announced the appointment on Tuesday, saying Pulte would replace Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down last month after citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis. The move places the 38-year-old director of the Federal... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3355746/trump-taps-housing-regulator-bill-pulte-acting-intelligence-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/diplomacy/article/3355746/trump-taps-housing-regulator-bill-pulte-acting-intelligence-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:43:35 +0000 Reuters Reuters New York Attorney General Letitia James, a long-time critic of US President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty in federal court on Friday to charges related to allegedly lying on mortgage documents. James, a Democrat who last year secured a US$450 million civil fraud judgment against Trump, is one of three perceived enemies that the Republican president’s administration has brought criminal charges against in the past month, along with former FBI director James Comey and former national security... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3330281/trump-foe-letitia-james-pleads-not-guilty-mortgage-fraud-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3330281/trump-foe-letitia-james-pleads-not-guilty-mortgage-fraud-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Oct 2025 17:04:25 +0000 Reuters Reuters New York Attorney General Letitia James, a long-time foe of US President Donald Trump, was indicted for bank fraud on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said, as the administration seeks to use government power against those who have pursued investigations into him or publicly resisted his agenda. The details of the indictment, returned by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, were not immediately clear. The US Justice Department has been probing mortgage fraud allegations... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328441/letitia-james-ny-attorney-general-and-trump-foe-indicted-bank-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328441/letitia-james-ny-attorney-general-and-trump-foe-indicted-bank-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 21:21:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump’s administration renewed its request on Sunday for a federal appeal court to let him fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, a move the president is seeking ahead of the central bank’s vote on interest rates. The Trump administration filed a response just ahead of a Sunday deadline to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, arguing that Cook’s legal arguments for why she should stay in the job were meritless. Lawyers for Cook argued... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325518/trump-administration-renews-push-fire-fed-governor-lisa-cook-ahead-key-vote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325518/trump-administration-renews-push-fire-fed-governor-lisa-cook-ahead-key-vote?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Sep 2025 20:28:57 +0000