Trump Was Going to Fire Tulsi Gabbard Last Week — Until This MAGA Legend Stepped in to Save Her: Axios

(Mike Stewart/Evan Vucci/AP photos)

Axios’s Marc Caputo revealed that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was very nearly fired by President Donald Trump last week, but that her job was saved by a legendary GOP operative who vouched for her in a fascinating report that dropped on Friday morning.

According to Caputo, “Trump was displeased with Gabbard when she didn’t wholeheartedly endorse the Iran war during her recent testimony to Congress about threats to the U.S., according to five advisers and confidants who spoke with the president.” In addition Gabbard’s testimony, Trump was reportedly frustrated by the resignation of former National Counterterrorism Director Joe Kent, who left his post in protest of the war.

While some of Gabbard’s fellow Cabinet members supported Gabbard, one source assured Caputo that Roger Stone played a central role in protecting her. “Roger sealed the deal. He saved Tulsi,” said the source. Stone and Trump’s close relationship goes all the way back to 1979, and the president values his opinion. Her are the four arguments he reportedly made on Gabbard’s behalf:

1. Gabbard was loyal, gave congressional testimony in a professional manner and never disputed the president.
2. Gabbard wasn’t going to resign like Kent and didn’t deserve to be proactively fired.
3. Firing Gabbard would needlessly create a damaging news cycle for Trump — and make her into a martyr of sorts for those in the president’s base agitated by the war.
4. If she were fired and given that aura of credibility among MAGA dissenters, Gabbard could become a potent GOP presidential candidate in a little over a year. That might hurt Trump’s preferred successor, Vice President Vance, in the early 2028 primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commented on the matter by asserting that “President Trump believes Tulsi Gabbard is doing an excellent job on behalf of the administration. She is a key member of his national security team.”

Stone himself addressed the matter in a Thursday afternoon tweet that read: “Last Monday [Laura] Loomer tried to convince the President that Tulsi Gabbard was about to resign – in an effort to get Trump to move preemptively to fire her. The whole thing was a hoax. Fortunately, I acted in time. When I called Loomer out on her lie is when she became unhinged.”

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