President Donald Trump on Tuesday named housing official Bill Pulte, who has played a leading role in stoking the president’s retribution campaign, as acting director of national intelligence.

His elevation on Tuesday of Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as America’s new acting top spymaster was therefore a classic political move.

There was another step down, it turns out, and it is Bill Pulte, whom President Donald Trump has tapped to replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, a position created after the atta...