(Washington) Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard Resigns
The head of American intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who was said to be weakened by comments on Iran, became the latest minister to leave the Trump administration on Friday. She cited personal reasons.
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While the American president’s team has long remained stable, it has recently seen several changes in a short period, with the departures in three months of Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
All of them have been replaced by men, and before Tulsi Gabbard’s departure, the Trump administration had four women out of a total of 21 top-level ministers or officials.
“Unfortunately, I must submit my effective resignation by June 30,” she wrote in a letter addressed to Donald Trump, explaining that she had to leave the administration due to her husband’s state of health, suffering from bone cancer.
“Any insinuation that the White House has forced her to resign due to her husband’s health is defamatory,” said Davis Ingle, a spokesman for the American executive.
Tulsi Gabbard, the very sensitive Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who oversees all intelligence agencies, has been leading since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Her nomination was sharply criticized by the opposition, particularly for her pro-Russian positions.
The American president praised Tulsi Gabbard’s “incredible work” at the helm of the DNI.
“Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her,” he added, specifying that she would be replaced by her deputy Aaron Lukas, appointed Acting National Intelligence Director.
Arguments from the Kremlin
At 45 years old, this former military officer who was deployed in Iraq had to face hostility from opposition lawmakers during the nomination process and skepticism from some Republican senators.
She is particularly criticized for meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and echoing Kremlin arguments to justify the war in Ukraine.
Her support for whistleblower Edward Snowden, who revealed damaging information about American intelligence services, has also been criticized.
Tulsi Gabbard had been rumored to be leaving for some time by American media, seeming to be at odds with Donald Trump.
She notably refused to confirm the White House’s official position during a congressional hearing in March that Iran posed an “imminent threat,” justifying the American-Israeli strikes that triggered the war in the Middle East.
Tulsi Gabbard is also known for her statements that have shocked Washington institutions, particularly criticizing her country’s military interventionism for decades.
During Donald Trump’s first term, she openly criticized a strike that killed senior Iranian official Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
Tulsi Gabbard dramatically left the Democratic party in 2022, accusing the organization of being “an elitist woke warmonger clique” fueling “anti-white racism.”
