acting

IT is one of showbiz’s most famous moments – Tom Cruise leaping on a sofa while telling Oprah Winfrey about dating Katie Holmes.

“I’m in love,” the Mission: Impossible actor yelled, giddy with excitement as he flailed his arms about.

It was May 2005 and Tom, who divorced fellow Hollywood A-lister Nicole Kidman in 2001, had been dating Dawson’s Creek beauty Katie for just a month.

It seemed the love was mutual, with Katie revealing she was taking lessons in Scientology, a controversial religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and beloved by her husband.

“I’m really excited about it,” she said, while Tom emphasised: “She makes her own decisions.”

And it seemed TomKat, as they were nicknamed, were flourishing.

Just 11 months after his dramatic declaration of love, their daughter Suri was born.

Katie and Tom wed in November 2006, but after five and a half years of marriage, she apparently blindsided her husband when she unexpectedly filed for divorce in June 2012 because of Scientology and its impact on her daughter.

And Suri, now 20, appears to have made up her own mind about her dad, dropping his surname in favour of her mum’s middle name, Noelle.

The move emerged after she publicly registered to vote in Pennsylvania, where she studies under the alternative name.

It is also reported she has been estranged from Tom, 64, since she was ten, while remaining close to Katie, 47, who is no longer a Scientologist.

Suri, an aspiring actor and drama student, is currently appearing in a re-imagined performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

And she seems to have inherited her father’s talent for acting, with critics saying the Carnegie Mellon uni student “stole the show”.

Journalist Tony Ortega, who has investigated the workings of Scientology for three decades, said of the family breakdown: “When Katie split with Tom, any normal Scientologist would be told she is an SP, a suppressive person — an enemy of the church.

“And Suri, being connected to Katie, would be considered a PTS — potential trouble source.

“Tom would be expected to disconnect from them and not have anything to do with them.”

The church says: “A suppressive person (SP) is a person who seeks to suppress other people in their vicinity.

“A suppressive person will goof up or vilify any effort to help anybody and particularly knife with violence anything calculated to make human beings more powerful or more intelligent.

“The suppressive person is also known as the antisocial personality.

“Within this category one finds Napoleon, Hitler, the unrepentant killer and the drug lord.

“But if such are easily spotted, if only from the bodies they leave in their wake, antisocial personalities also commonly exist in current life and often go undetected.”

Tom does seem to be in contact with his two other children, Isabella “Bella” Cruise, 33, and Connor Cruise, 31, who are both Scientologists.

Bella and Connor were adopted by Tom and Nicole in 1992 and 1995 respectively.

As youngsters, the pair divided their time between Sydney and Los Angeles, although they also lived in Hertfordshire for three years.

When their parents split up, the stars would initially spend their time between the children.

With dad Tom, they visited Scientology sessions at the church’s main hub in Clearwater, Florida, where followers spoke about attaining “spiritual freedom”.

In 2004, instead of seeing their mum, they were packed off to a Scientology summer camp.

The next year, they were living full-time with their dad.

In 2019, Bella told in a promotional email for Scientology how she was “drowning in problems” before training as an “auditor” — which is basically a counsellor who helps other believers shed “spiritual distress” using an “E-meter”.

The device is similar to a lie detector and delivers low-voltage electricity to the subject.

The email said: “This is what I had been searching for. The missing piece. Thank you to my dad for everything. We all need to do this. Wow. What an accomplishment. It’s hard work. It’s a lot of effort.

“It’s a few meltdowns and running to the bathroom to have a mini- episode, but it is worth everything because you will get through.

“This is a gift to yourself and so many others. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t going to be an auditor or aren’t going to join staff. If you are going to make it as a being for the long run, you need this.

“That’s the truth. So stop messing around and get going.”

However, despite her support of Scientology, Bella has not stayed living near her dad. Instead, she has switched the bright lights of Hollywood  for the far less glitzy Croydon, South London.

She lives in an ordinary semi-detached house with her British husband, Max Parker, 34, an IT consultant she met through friends and married in 2015.

She works as an artist, selling trendy tote bags and T-shirts with her prints on, and posts Instagram pictures and videos of her artwork and trips to Brighton.

Previously, neighbours told The Sun: “I wouldn’t have known her if she’d come up and smacked me in the face. I don’t keep up with celebrity culture.

“They have a reptile of some kind — we can see the red light of the tank. That’s all anybody seems to know. She’s very mysterious.

“I don’t know why she’s chosen Croydon, poor child!”

Former Scientologist and US actress Leah Remini, 56, wrote a book about her time in the church called Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood And Scientology.

In it, she said she asked Bella if she saw her mum often and claims Bella replied: “Not if I have a choice. Our mom is a f***ing SP.”

Nicole, who left Scientology around the time of her divorce from Tom, has previously said: “I’ve chosen not to speak publicly about Scientology. I have two children who are Scientologists and I utterly respect their beliefs.”

She reiterated this in 2018, saying: “They are able to make their own decisions. They have made choices to be Scientologists, and as a mother it’s my job to love them.”

Bella does follow her half-sister, Sunday Rose, 18 — from Nicole’s marriage to country singer Keith Urban — on Instagram as well as both parents.

However, neither Nicole nor Keith attended Bella’s wedding reception in London, and it’s said she turned down her dad’s offer of a £324,000-a-month rented penthouse when she first moved to the UK capital.

Connor, understood to live near Clearwater, Florida, has been pictured with Tom at various sporting events.

A source told People magazine in 2019: “Connor has been able to remain close with Tom because of Scientology.”

On Instagram, he has shared pictures of him with his father, writing: “Watching the Yankees beat the Dodgers a couple years back with my dad.”

Scientology has two major centres in London, and its UK base is at the Grade II-listed Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

And while Bella is in Croydon, it is unclear if she will travel north to Edinburgh to see her half-sister Suri, who is busy making a name for herself on stage.

July 31 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s acting prosecutor general submitted his resignation Friday after the National Assembly passed legislation eliminating prosecutors’ authority to conduct supplementary investigations.

Koo Ja-hyun said he felt responsible for the overhaul of the country’s criminal justice system and had submitted his resignation.

“The revision to the Criminal Procedure Act, centered on abolishing prosecutors’ supplementary investigative authority, passed the National Assembly today,” Koo said at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul.

“I also feel a strong sense of responsibility that the law was revised while concerns raised by legal experts, other professionals and the public remain unresolved,” he said.

The National Assembly passed the bill Friday under the leadership of the governing Democratic Party.

The legislation bars prosecutors from conducting additional investigative work after receiving cases from police. Prosecutors will instead be required to ask police to perform supplementary investigations.

The Democratic Party says the change completes the separation of investigative and prosecutorial powers and prevents prosecutors from exercising excessive authority.

Opposition lawmakers, prosecutors and some legal experts have warned that the system could delay cases and weaken protection for crime victims.

Koo warns of investigative gaps

Koo said prosecutors needed to reflect deeply on their failure to earn public trust.

He said, however, that institutional reform should not undermine the prosecution’s responsibility to uncover the truth and protect victims and other people involved in criminal cases.

“Even when institutional reform is carried out for those reasons, the essential purpose of the prosecution system – discovering the substantive truth and protecting victims and other parties – must not be damaged,” Koo said.

Koo said he had repeatedly considered how the system could be changed while protecting citizens’ rights and safeguarding society from crime.

He said prosecutors had warned lawmakers that the revision could force them to make indictment decisions based only on written investigative records.

Under that structure, prosecutors could have difficulty independently checking disputed facts, identifying gaps in police investigations or responding directly to victims’ concerns, he said.

Koo also warned that repeatedly returning cases to police could create a more costly and inefficient process.

“Those concerns were not accepted and the amendment passed without change,” he said. “It is difficult to conceal my disappointment and sense of helplessness.”

Koo urged the government to conduct another review of possible gaps in the system after the legislation is formally transferred from the National Assembly.

“I sincerely hope our criminal justice system will develop in a direction that ensures every citizen is protected fairly under the law,” he said.

Prosecution faces another leadership vacancy

South Korea’s prosecution service has already been operating without a formally appointed prosecutor general.

Koo has led the organization in an acting capacity while serving as deputy prosecutor general.

His departure would leave the service under what South Korean media described as an “acting acting chief.”

If Koo’s resignation is accepted, Park Kyu-hyung, head of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s planning and coordination department, is expected to assume the duties of acting prosecutor general.

The leadership vacancy comes as the government prepares to replace the existing prosecution service with a new Public Prosecution Office and establish a separate Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.

The Public Prosecution Office will focus on indictments and courtroom prosecutions, while the new investigative agency will handle major crimes previously investigated directly by prosecutors.

The two agencies are scheduled to launch Oct. 2.

The transition will require the government to determine how pending cases, personnel, records and investigative responsibilities will be transferred.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260731010011845

Caracas, July 8, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez held a meeting with a military and diplomatic delegation from Israel on Tuesday.

The talks represented the first official engagement between Caracas and Tel Aviv since former President Hugo Chávez severed diplomatic relations in 2009.

According to Venezuelan state media reports, Rodríguez alongside Public Works Vice President Juan José Ramírez and Transport Minister Francisco Garcés sat down with Israeli officials to discuss plans for the removal of over 1 million tons of rubble from La Guaira state in the wake of June 24’s double earthquake.

For its part, the IDF indicated that its engineering personnel delivered a “national rehabilitation” plan to the Venezuelan government. Photos published on social media showed Brigadier General Elad Edri, chief of staff of the IDF Home Front Command, presenting a slide show titled “Project for the Reconstruction of the Future” with Venezuelan and Israeli flags. 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry added that, at Rodríguez’s request, its delegation will stay in the Caribbean nation for two additional weeks to “begin implementing the reconstruction plan prepared by Israeli experts.”

Uniformed Israeli soldiers have toured multiple affected areas in Caracas and La Guaira, reportedly conducting inspections on damaged infrastructure. It has held multiple meetings with Venezuelan authorities, including a previous one with Ramírez in the Vicepresidency of Public Works. In a press conference last week, Rodríguez expressed her appreciation for the arrival of the “highly trained and professional” Israeli team.

It is not presently known whether the Israeli evaluations are being coordinated with similar assessments from specialized Venezuelan brigades.

“We are here primarily to assist in a natural disaster,” diplomat Yoed Magen said in a social media video. “Whenever we come to a country to advise or provide assistance, a relationship is formed and it can lead to a faster rapprochement.”

Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez cut ties with Tel Aviv in 2009, fiercely denouncing Operation Cast Lead as “genocide” and voicing solidarity with the Palestinian people.

President Nicolás Maduro maintained his predecessor’s position excoriating Israeli military occupation and war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the June 2025 Twelve-Day War against Iran. The Maduro government publicly endorsed South Africa’s activation of the Genocide Convention against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.

The mission has drawn backlash from the Chavista grassroots.

“[Israel] is a rogue nation. Its rulers are committing a genocide against the native people of Palestine and now they supposedly help Venezuela rescue [earthquake] victims and rebuild La Guaira,” Hindu Anderi, spokesperson for the Platform of Solidarity with the Palestinian cause, wrote on social media.

Venezuelan officials have reported 3,685 people killed in the earthquake as of July 7, more than 16,000 injured, and over 15,000 displaced families. A total of 190 buildings have collapsed, with hundreds more suffering various levels of damage.

The Venezuelan government has radically shifted its foreign policy after the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of Maduro. Apart from reestablishing diplomatic relations with Washington, Caracas has distanced itself from historic allies. During the recent US-Israel war against Iran, Caracas did not express support for Tehran, instead offering public backing for US Gulf allies such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The diplomatic rapprochement with the Trump administration has seen US forces hold military exercises in Caracas and conduct an extrajudicial execution in southeast Bolívar State.

Following the recent earthquakes, Washington expanded its footprint in the Caribbean nation, with 900 military personnel reportedly on the ground in Venezuela. After conducting repair works, US forces are currently running logistics and aid operations at La Guaira port and the Simón Bolívar International Airport.

Edited by Lucas Koerner in Caracas.

June 30 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has nominated Keith Sonderling to be the U.S. secretary of labor, a position the attorney has held on the interim basis since Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April.

Trump announced his nomination of Sonderling to the post permanently on Monday in a statement, describing Sonderling as a man who has throughout his career “proven his dedication to delivering strong results for the Hardworking People of our Country, and I know he will do an incredible job in his new role.”

Sonderling served as deputy and acting administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division during Trump’s first term, and as deputy secretary — the department’s chief operating officer — during Trump’s second.

The 43-year-old was made interim head of the department on April 20, replacing Chavez-DeRemer, who had resigned as she faced a series of allegations of professional misconduct.

She stepped down as a Labor Department inspector general’s investigation was examining allegations that she kept a stash of alcohol in her office, maintained a relationship with a member of her security team and used agency resources for a variety of personal activities.

In a statement Monday, Sonderling said he was “deeply grateful to President Trump for his trust and confidence.”

“Serving in both President Trump’s administrations has been the greatest honor of my life,” he said on social media.

“If confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to continuing that service as secretary of labor and advancing the president’s agenda on behalf of America’s workers, families, unions and job creators.”

Following Trump’s announcement, a number of Republicans congratulated Sonderling on his nomination.

“Congratulations to Keith Sonderling on his nomination to be secretary of labor,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said online.

“He is the kind of pro-worker leader that Americans deserve.”

ROMEO Beckham has made his acting debut in a gay tennis movie – as he flirted with his co-star in a first look of the film.

This comes days after Romeo and girlfriend Kim Turnbull enjoyed a pricey Harrods picnic after he was pulled over in £100k Porsche.

Romeo stars opposite Paul Kircher (The Animal Kingdom), Guillaume Canet (Sink or Swim) and Benjamin Voisin (The Stranger).

The movie, Forty Love, centres around Sacha Gallo, a tennis superstar who’s been training with his father to win a major trophy in Paris.

But the arrival of a charismatic new rival — played by Romeo — challenges everything Sacha thought he understood about competition, ambition and himself.

The synopsis reads: “For the first time, he faces an opponent of an entirely different nature — love.

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“A force as exhilarating as it is destabilizing — and far more dangerous than anything he has encountered on the court.”

Romeo, the son of football legend David and fashion designer Victoria, has modelled for the biggest luxury brands like Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga for years.

Fans flocked to comment on social media and one wrote: “Romeo picking a debut where the rival becomes the love interest is bold casting.”

Another said: “Watching this to see if romeo can sell the moment the match turns personal.”

A third said: “Beckham energy meeting soft tennis drama is giving unexpected but welcome character arc.”

“This setup turns every serve into a metaphor and i’m here for it,” said another.

While a fifth wrote: “From the football pitch to a romance film…. That’s an unexpected career move. Wishing him the best for his acting debut.”

Forty Love marks the first directorial outing by renowned fashion photographer Pierre-Ange Carlotti.

The film is produced by Hugo Sélignac and Paco de Bary at Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, a Mediawan company, and co-produced by Studiocanal and Manna Studios.

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — President Trump said Friday that he wants Bill Pulte, his new acting director of national intelligence, to cut the office, which has already been significantly scaled back during his second term.

Trump noted that the size of the office has been “way too high for way too long” and that “if he cut, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Bill Pulte is very good, he’s very talented,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Wisconsin. The Republican president said in an earlier interview with the Wall Street Journal that he has asked Pulte to start the process of firing employees.

In the interview with the Journal, the president says he has already conveyed his view to Pulte, the incoming acting director of national intelligence, who has served as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency but apparently has no national security expertise.

“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said, which the Journal said was in reference to intelligence community officials who had served in the Democratic administrations of Presidents Biden and Obama.

Trump told the Journal that he wants Pulte to “start the process” of firing personnel and that the eventual permanent director of national intelligence should continue it. The president has indicated that he would not formally nominate Pulte for the position.

“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.”

Pulte was tapped by the president earlier this week in a surprising move that has been met with bipartisan resistance in the Senate, which confirms presidential nominations. The temporary appointment has now snarled the renewal of a critical national security surveillance program on Capitol Hill, with Democrats key to the vote pointing out that they did not trust Pulte — whose office oversees 18 intelligence agencies — to help administer the surveillance program.

Under Pulte’s successor, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence’s office had already taken steps to scale back its size. In August, the Trump administration said that the office’s budget would be cut by more than $700 million per year, while slashing the size of its workforce.

At the time, Gabbard said the office had become “bloated and inefficient” while she announced the roughly 40% workforce reduction.

Gabbard resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.

Price and Kim write for the Associated Press. Kim reported from Washington.

United States President Donald Trump has appointed businessman and federal housing regulator Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence (DNI).

Trump made Tuesday’s surprise announcement on social media that Pulte would replace Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii congresswoman who has served as the director of national intelligence until recently.

Trump said Pulte will keep his other positions in addition to taking over from Gabbard, who resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.

Who is Bill Pulte?

Pulte, 38, a graduate of Northwestern University, has been director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) since March 2025.

He is heir to his family’s residential development firm – one of the US’s largest homebuilders, PulteGroup, which was founded by his grandfather in the 1950s. He previously founded a private equity firm, Pulte Capital, and is involved in large-scale philanthropic activity.

Pulte is seen as a loyal Trump supporter and has encouraged prosecutions of the president’s perceived political enemies, accusing New York Attorney General Letitia James and California’s US Senator Adam Schiff, both Democrats, and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, of mortgage fraud.

A federal grand jury refused to indict James in a Justice Department prosecution in December 2025 after Pulte wrote a criminal referral to the Justice Department, accusing her of listing a home she owned in Virginia as her primary residence to secure more favourable loan terms. Officials have also not brought charges against Schiff, who denies the allegations against him.

Trump attempted to fire Cook – an unprecedented move by a president against a US central bank official – over Pulte’s unsubstantiated accusations, but courts allowed her to remain in the role. She, too, denied the allegations. The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks in her case.

In response to Pulte’s actions, Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer called the newly appointed director of national intelligence a “partisan thug” on Tuesday.

“A guy who can file such baseless, political and outrageous charges against political office holders he doesn’t like can’t be entrusted to protect our national security,” Schumer said.

Pulte’s views on whether the 2020 election was rigged against Trump – a claim many of his appointees have backed despite a lack of any evidence – are not immediately clear. He is understood to have deleted 25,000 social media posts before Trump nominated him to serve as FHFA head in January 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, said during his vetting process for the position.

Trump said Pulte will continue as FHFA director and chair of federally supported mortgage banks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Pulte, who has no experience in intelligence operations, will oversee 18 intelligence departments including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), which monitors foreign communications and helps defend the US against cyberattacks.

Could Pulte become the permanent intelligence chief?

Pulte can serve in the job for up to 210 days without being confirmed by the Senate. That timeframe would allow him to stay in the post through the November midterm elections, in which Trump’s fellow Republicans are seeking to retain control of Congress.

This is significant, as Republican Senator John Thune said Pulte might have trouble winning confirmation in the narrowly divided chamber if Trump decides to nominate him to the post beyond the current temporary appointment.

“If he’s somebody we want in that position permanently, he’s got a lengthy road ahead of him,” Thune was quoted by news agency Semafor as saying.

What have the reactions to Pulte’s appointment been?

Pulte’s appointment has drawn scepticism from lawmakers and intelligence officials.

“We don’t need a weaponised DNI. We need professionals there,” Senate Majority Leader Thune told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m trying to get more information about the current state of their thinking about that position. And, again, if he’s somebody they want in that position permanently, he’s got, as you all know, a lengthy road ahead of him.”

“I don’t see any evidence of qualifications for that job,” Republican Senator John Cornyn told reporters. Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, lost a primary election last week to a Trump-backed challenger.

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in response to questions about Pulte’s national security credentials: “I have no observations on the matter.”

Republican Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Cornyn of Texas, all of whom are leaving the chamber after this year’s elections, joined the chorus against Pulte.

“Doesn’t seem qualified,” Cassidy said.

“When we looked at his background for the current confirmation, I thought most of his experience was in the building industry,” Tillis said. “I didn’t know he had any national security experience.”

Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia and the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday: “The concern is not only that Mr Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national security experience’ required by statute for the job, which was created after intelligence failures led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11. It is that he appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need.”

Senator Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in a written statement on Tuesday that Trump is now “rewarding his lackey – who has no national security experience – with a perch atop our nation’s intelligence community. What could go wrong?”

WASHINGTON — President Trump has tapped Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to be the acting director of national intelligence — putting a real estate scion and fierce Trump loyalist in a key national security post as the U.S. remains at war with Iran.

Trump made the surprise announcement Tuesday on social media that Pulte would be replacing Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii congresswoman who served as the director of national intelligence.

The Republican president cited Pulte’s work at the FHFA and his role as chair of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying that the 38 year-old “has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.”

Pulte’s sudden elevation to a role coordinating sensitive national security matters is a sign of how Trump is putting a priority on loyalty over a traditional resume full of previous military and intelligence assignments. It’s unclear what national security expertise Pulte has, but he has been a frequent guest on Air Force One as Trump has traveled to Mar-a-Lago, his home and club in Palm Beach, Florida.

As the grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, one of the country’s largest homebuilders, Pulte has cut a combative streak on social media and used his post at the FHFA to attack perceived opponents of the Trump administration.

His time overseeing mortgage finance has been linked with criminal referrals for mortgage fraud by public officials Trump sought to punish, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve, who was nominated by a Democratic president, Joe Biden.

Pulte has famously gone after then-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting the central bank’s benchmark interest rates as aggressively as the president wanted. He has also been linked to ideas such as the 50-year mortgage and efforts to lower mortgage rates through the purchase of home loan debt that have not paid off as promised.

Trump said Pulte will keep his other positions even as he fills in for Gabbard, who resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.

If formally nominated, Pulte would need to be confirmed by the Senate to hold the position full time.

Boak writes for the Associated Press.