5 Things to Know About Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s Pick to Lead Intel

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President-elect Donald Trump said Gabbard would bring a ‘fearless spirit’ to the job, if she’s confirmed as director of national intelligence.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman actively serving as an Army Reserve officer, to be his director of national intelligence (DNI).

The DNI is a Cabinet-level position, established in 2004, responsible for overseeing the U.S. government’s intelligence-gathering efforts. If confirmed, the role would require Gabbard to coordinate both information-gathering and interagency cooperation between the various U.S. intelligence and national security components.

The role also entails coordinating intelligence sharing between the United States and its allies and partners.

Additionally, the DNI serves as the president’s top intelligence adviser, preparing his daily intelligence briefings.

Trump has, at times, shown skepticism toward the U.S. intelligence community. As DNI, Gabbard could prove critical in any plans Trump has to overhaul the U.S. intelligence community.

Announcing the nomination, Trump said, “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

A Soldier

Gabbard, 43, joined the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003.

She was serving in the Hawaii State House of Representatives at the time and has said she gave up an easy 2004 reelection campaign to instead volunteer for deployment in Iraq. In Iraq, she served on a medical unit attached to the Hawaii National Guard’s 29th Brigade Combat Team.

She went on to attend the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy and graduated in 2007 as the first woman to finish as the distinguished honor graduate in the academy’s 50-year history.

Gabbard went on to become a military police platoon leader in the Hawaii National Guard’s 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion. She deployed to Kuwait, again as a volunteer, in 2009.

By 2020, Gabbard had transferred from the Hawaii National Guard to the Army Reserve. She continues to serve and currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Despite her military service, Gabbard doesn’t have an extensive background in intelligence.

Democrat Turned Trump Supporter

Gabbard served in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years while balancing her political career with her military duties.

Following her stint in the Hawaii state Legislature, she ran for U.S. Congress and won office in the 2012 election cycle. She was reelected three more times and concluded her last term in office in January 2021.

After winning her first congressional race, Gabbard was elected to a four-year term as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. She stepped down as vice chair to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Gabbard also ran for president in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Since leaving office, Gabbard increasingly distanced herself from the Democratic Party. In an October 2022 post on her personal Substack blog, she announced she had left the Democratic Party and became independent. She also endorsed several Republican candidates during the 2022 election cycle, and ultimately endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential run, officially announcing herself as a Republican in October.

“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties–She is now a proud Republican!” Trump said, upon nominating Gabbard for the DNI position on Nov. 13.

A Syria Skeptic

Throughout her political journey, Gabbard has cast herself as an anti-war activist, skeptical of U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.

Gabbard has repeatedly called into question the U.S. military presence in Syria.

She has also shown a willingness to defend Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against accusations he’s committed war crimes throughout the ongoing Syrian civil war. She met in secret with Assad in January of 2017.

Gabbard criticized Trump in an April 2017 statement for ordering U.S. strikes on Syria. While Trump had ordered the strikes following reports that Assad had ordered a chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Idlib province, Gabbard expressed doubts at the time about Assad’s culpability in the attack. She said the U.S. strikes complicated the evidence-gathering process.

In a 2018 interview with The Nation, Gabbard went so far as to say the United States has been focused on regime change to oust Assad from power since 2011. She said the United States has even provided direct and indirect support to terrorist organization Al Qaeda to assist in the anti-Assad efforts.

Stance on Ukraine

Even before she left the Democratic Party, Gabbard routinely found herself at odds with fellow party members.

Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton in January 2020, alleging Clinton “deliberately and maliciously made false statements” against her by suggesting she is a “Russian asset.” Gabbard withdrew the legal complaint later that year.

Near the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Gabbard raised concerns about the presence of U.S.-funded biological research laboratories in Ukraine. Some members of Congress, including then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) responded by accusing her of spreading a “Russian propaganda” narrative. Romney said, “Her treasonous lies may well cost lives.”

The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed its Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) has helped Ukraine dispose of Soviet-era biological weapons and has supported laboratories in Ukraine dealing with biological threat detection.

Gabbard responded to criticisms about her comments about biological labs, stating, “This is not a matter of disagreement or holding a dissenting view—this is about facts, and this is about the truth.”

Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Trump has said he would prefer to quickly bring an end to the current Russia–Ukraine conflict through negotiations.

Called for Leniency for Assange, Snowden

Over the years, Gabbard has expressed support for Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, two men who engaged in efforts to publicize U.S. national security information.

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has argued that his efforts to publish national security information were acts of journalism. Federal prosecutors had argued that Assange’s actions went beyond the normal role of a journalist and amounted to involvement in a conspiracy to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information.

Snowden was a contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency who, in 2013, exfiltrated and helped publish information detailing the agency’s digital surveillance practices.

Gabbard called on Trump to pardon both Assange and Snowden in November 2020, toward the end of Trump’s first term in office. She has called the U.S. prosecution of Assange a threat to journalists and publishers, and efforts to charge Snowden a threat to whistleblowers.

While attempting to court voters at the Libertarian National Convention this year, Trump said he would give “very serious consideration” to pardoning Assange.

Assange avoided prison time after pleading guilty this summer to a single felony count related to his publication of classified U.S. government records.

Snowden currently lives in Russia and remains wanted by the United States on charges of violating the Espionage Act.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article.