Tulsi Gabbard has announced her resignation from her job as U.S President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence.
According to her resignation letter posted on her X account, she needed to step away as her husband battles cancer.
In her resignation letter, Gabbard told Trump that she was “deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half.”
“Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026. My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
Tulsi Gabbard
She is the fourth Cabinet official to depart during Trump’s second term. Gabbard’s departure follows Trump having ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in late March, in the midst of mounting criticism over her leadership of the department — including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.
The second Cabinet member to leave was Attorney General Pam Bondi, in response to growing frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April, after being the target of various misconduct investigations.
A military veteran but without any intelligence experience, Gabbard was a surprising choice for Director of National Intelligence. She ran for President in 2020 on a progressive platform and her opposition to U.S. involvement in foreign military conflicts.
Citing her military experience, she argued that U.S. wars in the Middle East had destabilized the region, made the U.S. less safe and cost thousands of American lives. Gabbard later dropped out of the race and endorsed the ultimate winner, President Joe Biden.Two years later, she left the Democratic Party to become an independent, saying her old party was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. She subsequently campaigned for several high-profile Republicans and became a contributor to Fox News.
She later endorsed Trump, who also was a strong critic of past U.S. wars in the Middle East and campaigned on a pledge to avoid unnecessary wars and nation-building overseas.
However, friction with the President started soon after he began his second term and tapped Gabbard to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to improve coordination between the nation’s intelligence agencies.
Shortly after taking on the job and before this year’s war, Gabbard testified before lawmakers that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. After Trump launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites last June, he said that Gabbard was wrong and that he didn’t care what she said.
There had been rumours that Gabbard would split with Trump after the U.S Oresident’s decision to strike Iran, which caused some division within his administration. Joe Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation in March and said he “cannot in good conscience” back the war.
Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, built her political name on her opposition to foreign wars and this put her in an awkward position when the U.S. joined Israel in launching attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
During a congressional hearing in March, her measured comments were notable for their careful non-endorsement of the Iran war. She repeatedly dodged questions about whether the White House had been warned of potential fallout from the conflict, including Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial for global oil shipments.
Trump Confirms Gabbard’s Resignation
In a social media post, the President Donald Trump wrote that Gabbard was “unfortunately” leaving his administration at the end of June.
“Her wonderful husband, Abraham, has been recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, wants to be with him. Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.”
Donald Trump
Trump added that Gabbard’s “highly respected Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence,” Aaron Lukas, will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
Lukas was an intelligence aide to the Acting Director of National Intelligence, Ric Grenell, in 2020 during Trump’s first term.
A former Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, he also served as Deputy Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council in the final year of Trump’s previous administration.
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