President Donald Trump gave a characteristically rambling response when asked if he still had confidence in his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Responding to a reporter aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president said, “Sure. She’s a little bit different in her thought process than me but that doesn’t make somebody not available to serve.
“I would say that I’m very strong on the fact that I don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I think she’s probably a little bit softer on that issue, but that’s okay, some people are, most people aren’t.”
Gabbard has faced weeks of scrutiny over Trump’s war with Iran as a result of her historical anti-war stance. She admitted during a House committee meeting earlier this month that her real views on the war must be “checked at the door” when delivering intelligence reports.
Asked about the statement she made during her 2020 presidential campaign in which she warned that the war with Iran would be catastrophic and make conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan “look like a picnic,” Gabbard said, “In this role, it is essential that I do not allow any of my personal views on any of these issues to color or bias any of the intelligence reporting that we deliver to you and to the president.”
Gabbard also struggled to answer questions about the potential threat posed by Iran, claiming that, “The only person who can determine what is and isn’t an imminent threat is the president.”
She was corrected by Democratic Senator Jon Osoff, who said, “This is the ‘worldwide threats’ hearing, where you present to Congress national intelligence—timely, objective, and independent of political considerations."
He added, “It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States.”
Shortly after the meeting, conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly predicted that Gabbard would not remain in her position for much longer, joining former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on the list of cabinet members ousted this year.
“I don’t particularly care about Tulsi Gabbard and whatever she’s doing. I know she has a title there, but I also know she was not involved with the Iranian situation at all. Ratcliffe and his CIA run that show,” O’Reilly said on NewsNation.
“The reason that Ms. Gabbard was not involved was that she opposed Venezuela,” he continued. “She opposed going in and removing Maduro. Once she did that, she lost all credibility with Donald Trump. Now, why she’s still there, I don’t know. She won’t be there much longer, and that DNI doesn’t have any power right now in the Iranian situation.”
Prior to her March 18 appearance on Capitol Hill, Gabbard’s lack of public engagements was noted, with the director going uncharacteristically quiet across her social media accounts.
Her silence coincided with one of her senior aides resigning from his position in response to the Iran war, with Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announcing his decision on social media on March 17.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote in his resignation letter addressed to Trump.
He continued, “Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.”
“I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further towards decline and chaos. You hold the cards.”
