Trump Reportedly Asking His Cabinet About Replacing Tulsi Gabbard

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

President Donald Trump has vented his frustrations with his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in recent weeks, by asking members of his cabinet if he should remove her, reported The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell on Thursday.

Lowell’s report noted that Trump has, in particular, been “venting frustration that she shielded a former deputy who undercut his rationale for war with Iran, according to two people briefed on the discussions.”

Lowell was referring to counterterrorism chief Joe Kent’s scathing resignation in protest of the Iran war. Kent and Gabbard were both leading non-interventionist figures in Trump’s administration.

The report also noted that Trump was not happy with Gabbard’s recent Congressional testimony, in which she refused to give her personal take on the legality of the war in Iran. Lowell wrote:

Gabbard’s testimony that frustrated Trump, for instance, was in line with her longstanding criticism of the US becoming entangled in foreign wars, as well as her previous statements to Congress in 2019 that she believed the president could not legally order pre-emptive attacks.

“It is not clear that Trump will actually fire Gabbard over the episode,” Lowell added, hedging a bit, and noting, “Currently, there is no standout candidate to take the job, and advisers have cautioned that creating a high-profile vacancy before a successor is ready could cause unhelpful political distractions.”

Trump recently offered lukewarm confidence in Gabbard when asked aboard Air Force One on Sunday if he still believed she was right for the job.

“Yeah, sure,” Trump replied, adding, “I mean, she’s a little bit different in her thought process than me, but that doesn’t make somebody not available to say it.”

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung defended Gabbard in a statement to Lowell, “As President Trump just said in his remarks, he has confidence in Director Gabbard and the tireless work she is doing. He has assembled the most talented and impactful cabinet ever, and they have collectively delivered historic victories on behalf of the American people.”

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