Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testifies to the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about "worldwide threats" on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 29, 2019.

Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, will be stepping down in mid-August, President Donald Trump said in a tweet Sunday.

Trump said he will nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to replace Coats.

"A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves," Trump tweeted.

Coats will leave his position on Aug. 15.

In his resignation letter to the president, Coats said: "The Intelligence Community is stronger than ever, and increasingly well prepared to meet new challenges and opportunities."

"As we have previously discussed, I believe it is time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life," he wrote. "Therefore, I hereby submit to you my resignation effective August 15, 2019."

Trump said that an acting director will be named "shortly."

Trump TWEET

A spokeswoman for Ratcliffe did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Trump's announcement.



Coats' departure ends a two-plus-year relationship with Donald Trump marked by tensions over the administration's foreign policy stances that at times spilled into public view.

Ratcliffe drew attention this past week, when he questioned Robert Mueller during the former special counsel's hearings before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees about his investigation of Russian election interference, possible coordination between the Kremlin and Trump's campaign, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump himself.

During the Judiciary hearing, Ratcliffe said he agreed with Mueller's conclusions that Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election were "sweeping and systematic." But he tore into Mueller for noting in his 448-page report that while the investigation does not recommend Trump be charged for obstruction, it also does not "exonerate" him.

"Can you give me an example other than Donald Trump where the Justice Department determined that an investigated person was not exonerated because their innocence was not conclusively determined?" Ratcliffe asked.

Mueller responded, "I cannot, but this is a unique situation."

"You can't find it, because – I'll tell you why – it doesn't exist," Ratcliffe shot back.

Mueller made no determination about whether Trump obstructed justice, because Mueller followed a Department of Justice legal opinion that states that a sitting president cannot be indicted while in office. Mueller later said that Trump could potentially be indicted after leaving office.

"It was not the special counsel's job to conclusively determine Donald Trump's innocence or to exonerate him because the bedrock principle of our justice system is a presumption of innocence. It exists for everyone, everyone is entitled to it, including sitting presidents," Ratcliffe said.

"You managed to violate every principle and the most sacred of traditions about prosecutors not offering extra prosecutorial analysis."

Trump shouldn't be above the law, Ratcliffe added, "but he damn sure shouldn't be below the law, which is where volume two of this report puts him."