Trump ‘just kind of down on Tulsi Gabbard in general,’ senior official says
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Trump ‘just kind of down on Tulsi Gabbard in general,’ senior official says
Tulsi Gabbard is the Director of National Intelligence for the U.S. President Donald Trump is said to be at odds with her. A White House official said that he has “just been kind of down on her in general” of late. The president was recently incensed by a three-minute video she posted on X in the early hours of June 10. She warned that “political elite and warmongers” are “carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,” placing the world “on the brink of nuclear annihilation” Trump is accused of rebuking her for it in person and considering closing her office and integrating its responsibilities into the CIA’s leadership infrastructure. The former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman once ran for the Republican presidential nomination. She has previously stirred controversy by entertaining conspiracy theories regarding the wars in Ukraine and Syria, and has long been an advocate of keeping the US out of “forever wars” The White House has denied she could soon be fired.
As he weighs joining Israel’s war against Iran, President Donald Trump reportedly finds himself at odds with his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, with one White House official saying that he has “just been kind of down on her in general” of late.
The president was recently incensed, according to Politico, by Gabbard’s decision to post a three-minute video on X in the early hours of June 10 in which she warned that “political elite and warmongers” are “carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,” placing the world “on the brink of nuclear annihilation.”
Trump is said to have been angered by the video, accusing Gabbard of going “off-message” and rebuking her for it in person.
One of the senior administration officials, quoted anonymously by Politico, said there is a growing perception within the West Wing that the former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman, who once ran for that party’s presidential nomination, “doesn’t add anything to any conversation.”
“I don’t think [Trump] dislikes Tulsi as a person,” said another. “But certainly the video made him not super hot on her… and he doesn’t like it when people are off message.” They added that “many took that video as trying to correct the administration’s position.”
open image in gallery Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard on the campaign trail in La Crosse, Wisconsin, last August ( AFP/Getty )
The president’s souring on Gabbard emerged in public view on Tuesday when a reporter aboard Air Force One asked him about comments his intelligence chief had made before Congress in March in which she noted that, although Iran’s enriched uranium levels were at an all-time high, the expert opinion was that Tehran was not currently seeking to develop a nuclear bomb.
“I don’t care what she said,” Trump hit back. “I think they were very close to having a weapon.”
He has also reportedly been considering the idea of closing Gabbard’s office and integrating its responsibilities into the CIA’s leadership infrastructure. However, this could have a significant impact on oversight of the U.S. intelligence community and affect how information is relayed to the commander-in-chief.
Gabbard, who has previously stirred controversy by entertaining conspiracy theories regarding the wars in Ukraine and Syria, has long been an advocate of keeping the U.S. out of “forever wars,” a position Trump himself has taken in the past, and earlier this year visited Hiroshima in Japan to see the site devastated by an American nuclear blast at the close of the Second World War, a trip the White House questioned.
In opposing U.S. involvement with Benjamin Netanyahu’s Operation Rising Lion, the intelligence director is by no means alone among Trump’s MAGA movement, with leading voices such as Tucker Carlson speaking out and Marjorie Taylor Greene warning that interventionism only serves to “put America last, kill innocent people, [is] making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction.”
open image in gallery Trump and Gabbard embrace at a presidential rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, in October ( Getty )
Other conservative pundits, such as Mark Levin and the estranged former Trump official John Bolton, have criticized Gabbard; however, even supporters like Carlson have claimed that she is being excluded from decision-making.
The latter told Steve Bannon on his War Room podcast on Monday that the reason she had not been invited to a pivotal conference on the Israel-Iran conflict at Camp David recently was because “This is a regime change effort,” hinting that she could soon be fired.
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung has denied that, however, insisting the president “has full confidence in his entire exceptional national security team” and that “efforts by the legacy media to sow internal division are a distraction that will not work.”
Vice President JD Vance’s team has also defended Gabbard as “an essential member” of the team. “Tulsi Gabbard is a veteran, a patriot, a loyal supporter of President Trump, and a critical part of the coalition he built in 2024,” they said.
Gabbard has already hinted that, should she be dismissed, her future political ambitions might lie elsewhere.
She declined to rule out another run for the presidency during an appearance on Megyn Kelly’s podcast last month, commenting, “I will never rule out any opportunity to serve my country.”