U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on 22 August dismissed Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, saying he had lost confidence in the three-star general’s leadership. Deputy Director Christine Bordine was installed as acting chief while the Pentagon searches for a permanent replacement. Kruse’s ouster follows the agency’s preliminary June assessment that U.S. strikes on Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites had delayed but not destroyed Tehran’s program—an assessment that conflicted with President Donald Trump’s assertion the facilities were “obliterated.” Officials familiar with the decision said the report, which was leaked to the media, angered the White House and intensified scrutiny of Kruse’s stewardship. The dismissal is the latest in a series of high-level shake-ups in the national-security ranks. On the same day Hegseth also removed Vice Adm. Nancy S. Lacore, chief of the Navy Reserve, and Rear Adm. Milton J. Sands III, commander of Naval Special Warfare. Their departures add to a growing list of senior officers and intelligence leaders replaced since the start of Trump’s second term. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner called Kruse’s removal "troubling," warning that intelligence should not be treated as a loyalty test.