Recent posts released on social media by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who opposes a possible US military intervention in Iran, reportedly irked President Trump in no small way.
Earlier in the week, Gabbard posted a 3-minute video on her X account in which she claimed that “political elite and warmongers” are “carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,” placing the world “on the brink of nuclear annihilation.” According to sources, the footage reportedly sent the MAGA leader into a rage, who then privately rebuked his official, accusing her of deviating from the line dictated by the federal administration.
” I don’t think [Trump] dislikes Tulsi as a person,” a US official revealed to Politico, “But certainly the video made him not super hot on her… and he doesn’t like it when people are off message. Many took that video as trying to correct the administration’s position.”
The president’s dislike of Gabbard emerged publicly on Tuesday when a reporter aboard Air Force One asked him about comments made by his intelligence chief before Congress last March in which she noted that although Iran’s levels of enriched uranium were at an all-time high, the expert opinion was that Tehran was not currently trying to develop a nuclear bomb.
“I don’t care what she said,” Trump hit back. “I think they were very close to having a weapon.” The US leader also reportedly considered closing Gabbard’s office, delegating her duties to the CIA. However, this could have a significant impact on oversight of the U.S. intelligence community.
Gabbard, who has stirred controversy in the past by supporting conspiracy theories about the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, has long been an advocate of keeping the United States out of “eternal wars,” a position taken in the past by Trump himself, including during his last election campaign.
The intelligence director was not the only member of Trump’s circle to speak out against U.S. military intervention in the Middle East. Tucker Carlson, journalist and former MAGA loyalist, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, representative from Georgia, have expressed the same opinion.
Recently, Gabbard revealed in Steve Bannon’s podcast that she had been excluded from an important meeting at Camp David focused specifically on the conflict between Israel and Iran, hinting that she may soon be fired. However, White House spokesman Steven Cheung denied her claims, stating that Trump “has full confidence in his entire exceptional national security team”.
