President Donald Trump said he wants the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to be smaller and suggested its incoming acting leader should begin removing employees he views as holdovers from previous Democrat administrations.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said he expects Bill Pulte, whom he selected to serve as acting director of national intelligence, to begin reducing the agency's workforce while a permanent nominee is considered.

"I'd like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn't be there," Trump said, pointing to employees who served during the Biden and Obama administrations.

Asked whether he was directing Pulte to fire employees, Trump said he wants the acting director to "start the process," adding that his eventual nominee to lead the intelligence office on a permanent basis should continue that effort.

"Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come," Trump said. "Because, if he [Pulte] reduced the size, in conjunction with me ... and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in ... he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn't have to saddle somebody that goes in."

Trump said he wants Pulte to take an approach similar to that of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who has overseen efforts to shrink the Department of Education as the administration pursues Trump's long-standing goal of eliminating the agency and transferring some of its responsibilities elsewhere. 

Trump said the intelligence office should be significantly smaller and suggested its future could be reevaluated altogether.

"We've made the Department of Education much smaller, and likewise, this should be much smaller," Trump said of ODNI. "And this should maybe even be terminated, and we'll make that decision."

The comments signal Trump's continued focus on reshaping the federal workforce and the nation's intelligence agencies, institutions he has frequently criticized.

During both his first term and his current administration, Trump has argued that parts of the federal bureaucracy are resistant to his policy agenda and require significant restructuring.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to coordinate the work of the nation's 18 intelligence agencies and to serve as the president's principal intelligence adviser.

The office oversees intelligence integration across agencies, including the CIA, National Security Agency, and the FBI.

Trump did not specify how many positions he believes should be eliminated or identify particular offices or employees he believes should be targeted. The White House has not released details about any planned workforce reductions within the ODNI.

Federal civil service employees generally are protected by laws and regulations governing hiring and firing, though administrations have authority to remove certain political appointees and make broader organizational changes within legal limits.

Pulte, who has been tapped to serve as acting director of national intelligence, has not publicly detailed plans for the office.