WASHINGTON: The head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, has been dismissed following an intelligence assessment that appeared to contradict President Donald Trump’s claims about American strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, US media reported on Friday.
A senior defence official confirmed Kruse’s removal, telling CBS News that “Lt. Gen. Kruse will no longer serve as DIA Director.” Christine Bordine, the agency’s deputy director, has been appointed acting chief, CBS News reported.
The DIA, one of Washington’s primary military intelligence bodies, was responsible for a preliminary assessment of US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.
That report concluded the US strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear programme by only a few months and noted that some enriched uranium stockpiles had been moved before the attack.
President Trump, however, told Americans in a televised address that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been “completely obliterated” and delayed “by decades.”
The sharp contrast between the official assessment and Trump’s remarks reportedly angered the administration and may have contributed to Kruse’s dismissal, according to CBS News.
Pentagon shake-up
Kruse’s removal was accompanied by the dismissal of two other senior military officials. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also fired Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, head of the Navy Reserve, and Rear Admiral Milton Sands, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, officials said as cited by Reuters and the Associated Press news agencies.
The Pentagon did not provide an official reason for the firings, but congressional officials briefed on the matter were told the dismissal was due to a “lack of confidence” – a phrase often used as a catch-all justification for removing military leaders, NBC News reported.
Kruse, who had led the DIA since early 2024, previously served as adviser for military affairs to the Director of National Intelligence and as director of intelligence for the coalition against ISIL (ISIS).
Both the Pentagon and the White House confirmed Kruse’s removal but declined to elaborate on the reasons.
The dismissal is the latest in a string of senior-level shake-ups under President Trump. In April, General Timothy Haugh was fired as director of the National Security Agency (NSA) alongside more than a dozen officials at the White House National Security Council.
Earlier this year, Defence Secretary Hegseth also removed Air Force General C.Q. Brown and several other high-ranking officers in what analysts described as part of a sweeping purge of Pentagon leadership.
The DIA collects and analyses military intelligence to support the Pentagon and the White House, working alongside but separately from the CIA.
