Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard listens as President Trump speaks throughout a Cupboard assembly on the White Home on Dec. 2, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Pictures
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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Pictures
Tulsi Gabbard introduced Friday that she is resigning as President Trump’s director of nationwide intelligence to be able to assist her husband who’s battling a uncommon type of bone most cancers.
In a letter to Trump, Gabbard thanked the president for the chance to guide the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, however that she wanted to be there for her husband after he had stood by her for thus lengthy.
“His energy and love have sustained me by way of each problem, she wrote. I can’t in good conscience ask him to face this combat alone whereas I proceed on this demanding and time-consuming place.”
Gabbard is the newest in a collection of Cupboard officers to go away the Trump administration. Different departures embody Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem and Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi.
Trump counseled Gabbard for doing “an unimaginable job, and we are going to miss her.”
“Her great husband, Abraham, has been not too long ago recognized with a uncommon type of bone most cancers, and he or she, rightfully, needs to be with him, bringing him again to good well being as they at the moment combat a troublesome battle collectively,” Trump wrote on Reality Social.
Trump additionally introduced that Principal Deputy Director of Nationwide Intelligence Aaron Lukas will function performing director of nationwide intelligence.
Gabbard, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February, was an outspoken critic of U.S. engagement overseas. The previous Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii had shifted her political allegiance, going from a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 to a stalwart Trump supporter and conservative media character.
Gabbard was the primary Hindu elected to the Home of Representatives in 2012. She’s additionally a fight veteran and a former Lieutenant Colonel within the Military Reserve.
As director of nationwide intelligence, Gabbard oversaw all 18 of the nation’s intelligence businesses. She got here to the job after criticizing President Biden’s response to the continued conflicts world wide, together with his assist of Ukraine in its warfare in opposition to Russia.
As a member of the Home, Gabbard was a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s intervention within the warfare in Syria. She drew backlash in 2017 for visiting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was accused of myriad human rights abuses all through the warfare.
Throughout her affirmation hearings, Gabbard confronted criticism about her lack of expertise in intelligence. She additionally fought again in opposition to issues about her previous statements about Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and her previous protection of Edward Snowden, who leaked NSA secrets and techniques in 2013.
Her time within the Trump administration was additionally at occasions tenuous throughout Israel’s warfare with Iran over its nuclear program. In March, Gabbard instructed Congress the intelligence neighborhood didn’t consider Iran was constructing a nuclear weapon. That assertion was at odds with Israel’s view and, finally, Trump’s personal place.
The president mentioned June 20 that Iran would have nuclear weapons “inside a matter of weeks, or definitely inside a matter of months.” Requested about how his feedback contradict Gabbrad’s, he mentioned: “She’s mistaken.”
