Tulsi Gabbard Resigns As U.S. Director Of National Intelligence Effective June 30

Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday that she is resigning as the US director of national intelligence, saying she needs to be “by his side and fully support him through this battle” after her husband was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.

“Tulsi Gabbard to resign as US national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard will resign from her position as the US director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, citing her husband's recent bone cancer diagnosis”

BBC

Gabbard told President Donald Trump in a letter shared on social media that she is stepping down as the nation’s top intelligence officer on June 30, and Trump praised her in a separate social media post that said, “Unfortunately, after having done a great job, Tulsi Gabbard will be leaving the Administration on June 30th.”

BBC

The BBC reported that Aaron Lukas, the principal deputy director, will step in as acting director, with Gabbard’s resignation effective as of 30 June.

PBS said Gabbard’s resignation letter was posted on social media and reiterated that she was resigning effective June 30 to be with her husband after he was diagnosed with an “extremely rare form of bone cancer.”

The Guardian said Gabbard is leaving after a tumultuous stint in which she was largely sidelined as Donald Trump launched attacks on Venezuela and Iran, and it reported that the White House forced her to resign, citing a source familiar with the issue.

In her resignation letter, Gabbard wrote, “At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” while the BBC reported that Trump wrote she had “done an incredible job, and we will miss her”.

CNBC

CNN described Gabbard as routinely sidelined from some of the administration’s biggest foreign policy decisions, including when Trump’s national security team gathered at Mar-a-Lago on New Year’s Day to watch the US operation in Venezuela unfold.

CNN also said that ahead of Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear sites last summer, Gabbard posted a video warning that the world is “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before,” which angered Trump and the White House and put her on the sidelines.

Trump’s announcement that Gabbard would leave on June 30 came alongside a broader list of departures in his second administration, with the BBC noting she was the fourth member of Trump’s cabinet to depart after Lori Chavez-DeRemer left as labour secretary in April, and after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi left earlier this year.

“President Donald Trump selected Tulsi Gabbard as his top intelligence official thanks to her non-interventionist, “America First” ideology that had pushed her away from the Democratic Party and into the MAGA fold”

CNN

PBS said Gabbard’s resignation comes after 15 months as chief of America’s spy agencies, and it pointed to scrutiny over her conduct and handling of U.S. intelligence.

The Upper Michigan's Source reported that Trump hinted Gabbard may have had differing views from him on the war in Iran, quoting Trump on March 29 saying, “I think she’s probably a little bit softer on that issue, but that’s okay,” and it said Trump’s top deputy Aaron Lukas would serve as acting director after Gabbard leaves.

CNN added that Gabbard met with Trump in the Oval Office on Friday to present him with her resignation letter, and it quoted Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of national intelligence, saying, “This is why her initials DNI became ‘do not invite,’” on CNN’s “The Lead.”