US Defense Intelligence Chief Jeffrey Kruse Removed After Different Views With Trump

JAKARTA - The head of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse was officially removed from office after giving a different assessment of President Donald Trump regarding the results of airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Several senior Pentagon officials and a US senator on Friday 22 August confirmed that Kruse is no longer serving as director of the DIA. The official DIA website states that Kruse's position is temporarily replaced by Deputy Director Christine Bordine as the director's executor.

Apart from Kruse, two other high-ranking officers were also dismissed, namely Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, Naval Reserve Commander, and Rear Admiral Miltontudy, Commander of the Navy's Special War Command. However, the exact reasons for the dismissal of the three officials were not disclosed.

US media reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed Kruse for losing confidence in his leadership capabilities, following intelligence reports stating airstrikes on June 21, 2025 did not completely destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. The DIA report said the attack only delayed Tehran's nuclear program for a few months, in contrast to Trump's claim that the operation succeeded in eliminating Iran's nuclear capabilities.

Three days after the attack, the report leaked to CNN and drew sharp criticism from the White House. Trump reiterated the success of military operations and accused the leak of the report as an attempt to weaken his government.

"His assessment was leaked because there are parties who want to create chaos and make the public believe this historic attack failed," said Defense Minister Hegseth.

Kruse began to lead the DIA in early 2024 after previously serving as adviser to the Director of National Intelligence and director of intelligence for the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS).

Since Trump returned to the White House, a number of top US military officers have lost their positions. Among them were Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown who was removed in February, as well as several other important officials from the Navy, Coast Guard, National Security Agency, to senior military prosecutors.

The US Air Force commander, David Allvin, even suddenly resigned on August 18 despite just serving two years in office. Minister Hegseth stressed that President Trump has the right to elect a military leader according to his wishes.