High-ranking US official Tulsi Gabbard resigns for personal reasons

Tulsi Gabbard, the head of US intelligence, who appeared to be at odds with President Donald Trump over the war in Iran, announced her resignation on Friday for personal reasons.

“Unfortunately, I must submit my effective resignation on June 30,” she wrote in a letter addressed to President Trump and published on the social network X, explaining that she had to leave the administration due to her husband’s health condition, who has bone cancer.

Tulsi Gabbard has been leading the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI), the organization that oversees all intelligence agencies, since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The American president also praised the “incredible work” she has done 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 Director of National Intelligence. She is the fourth woman to leave the Trump administration in three months, after Justice Minister Pam Bondi, Interior Security Minister Kristi Noem, and Labor Minister Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

Tulsi Gabbard was portrayed by the American media as being at odds with Donald Trump. She notably refused during a parliamentary hearing in March to confirm the Republican’s statement that Iran posed an “imminent threat” before the American-Israeli strikes that triggered the war in the Middle East.

This 45-year-old former military member is from Hawaii and is a Democratic Party defector. Her pro-Russian stance and opposition to the war in Ukraine have sparked controversy. Tulsi Gabbard is also known for her statements that have been shocking within Washington institutions, particularly her criticisms of her country’s decades-long military interventionism.