Trump To Nominate Tulsi Gabbard As Director Of National Intelligence
President-elect Donald Trump has named former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as his pick for director of national intelligence, praising the former Democrat as “now a proud Republican.”
“For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans,” Trump said of Gabbard, a former U.S. Army Reserve officer who represented Hawaii in Congress from 2013 to 2021.
“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!” Trump continued in his announcement.
Her nomination will need to be confirmed by the Senate, which will return to Republican control in January.
Gabbard has never worked directly in intelligence, though she did serve for two years on the House’s Homeland Security Committee. If confirmed, she’ll arrive to the job with far less experience than the department’s current director, Avril Haines, who spent several years in top national security and intelligence positions before she was confirmed.
Gabbard has spread discredited Russian propaganda, and in 2017 she said she met with Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for the murder and torture of countless civilians.
Gabbard, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, has taken a hard rightward shift in recent years. In August, she endorsed Trump for president despite calling him “corrupt” and “unfit” for office just five years prior. Last month, with Trump at her side, she announced she was officially leaving the Democratic Party.
“It is because of my love for our country and, specifically, because of the leadership that President Trump has brought to transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people and the party of peace, that I’m proud to stand here with you today, President Trump, and announce that I’m joining the Republican Party,” Gabbard said at a Trump rally in North Carolina.
Trump’s last director of national intelligence, former Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe, was similarly light on intelligence experience. Though the position is historically considered to be nonpartisan, Ratcliffe was a loyal soldier to Trump who promoted the president-elect’s conspiracy theories about the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Ratcliffe assumed the role after Trump fired his first director, Dan Coats, who publicly contradicted Trump on Russia, North Korea and Iran.
