President Donald Trump on Wednesday confirmed he had told acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to speedily declassify materials from the office at his discretion.

Pulte is holding the DNI position until the Senate confirms a replacement for Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down after her husband's cancer diagnosis. Trump has nominated former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton to replace her on a permanent basis.

"While he's there I said 'you can declassify whatever you want!" Trump told reporters. "Bill Pulte is a very talented guy, but he's just there temporarily."

"I think Bill will declassify," he added.

Trump's appointment of Pulte, who currently leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), was met with alarm from Democrats, who feared his appointment signaled Trump's intent to use the DNI post to persecute his political opponents.

Pulte previously made criminal referrals to the DOJ against top Trump political opponents over alleged mortgage fraud.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.