Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard resigned from her position as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Friday. Her last day is expected to be June 30.

The Details: Gabbard reportedly notified President Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday. In her resignation letter, Gabbard wrote that she wanted to support her husband amid his recent cancer diagnosis. She also thanked Trump for the opportunity to lead the intelligence community and said that "while we have made significant progress" at the department, "there is still important work to be done." In a Truth Social post, Trump thanked Gabbard for her service, saying she'd done an "incredible job" in the position. Aaron Lukas is expected to take over the position.

Praise for Gabbard: Many outlets on the right and some in the Center focused on her administration downsizing the department–leading to over $700 million in annual cost savings–and declassifying over 500,000 pages of government records. Newsweek (Center bias) wrote Gabbard's work included "sweeping structural reforms focused on transparency and operational efficiency." It also included a section about Gabbard's net worth. Breitbart (Right) said Gabbard "transform[ed] the intelligence community" through reducing its size and "unravel[ing]" diversity, equity and inclusion programs. An opinion in Daily Wire (Right) described Gabbard's role as one "focused on accountability, declassification and efficiency" and said she served as "a loyal advocate" for Trump's agenda. Fox News (Right) wrote that Gabbard prevented over 10,000 individuals with ties to narco-terrorism from entering the US in 2025 and placed 85,000 similarly tied individuals on the terror watchlist.

A 'Rocky Tenure': Whereas many right-leaning outlets highlighted Gabbard's successes and Trump's praise for her, many outlets on the left and some in the Center focused on the negative nature of Trump and Gabbard's relationship and controversy surrounding her tenure. The New York Times (Lean Left) described Gabbard's tenure as "rocky", saying she was a "controversial figure" in the Trump administration and someone who was "viewed unfavorably within parts of the White House as well as the broader US intelligence community." The outlet primarily focused on challenges Gabbard faced from the CIA and Republican and Democrat senators. It also focused on aspects of Gabbard's work that seemed to benefit Trump, including rescinding security clearances of intelligence officials who were "disloyal" to Trump or "corrupt." CNN (Lean Left) also highlighted disagreements between Trump and Gabbard over the Iranian war and cited intelligence officials and election law experts who said Gabbard's investigation into potential voter fraud "erod[ed] a crucial line between foreign and domestic intelligence activities."

'Pushed Out' by Trump: Wall Street Journal (Center) and New York Times both wrote that Gabbard had been "largely sidelined from Trump's national-security team." Reuters (Center) cited a source who alleged Gabbard "had been forced out by the White House" which had been "unhappy with her for quite some time." It detailed previous differences between Trump and Gabbard and cited a senior White House official who said Trump had expressed "displeasure" with Gabbard in recent months. Reuters also focused on politicization surrounding Gabbard's work. It quoted a Democrat senator who said the next director should "be focusing on foreign intelligence" instead of "involving [themselves] in domestic election incidents."

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