Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence in Donald Trump’s cabinet, citing husband’s cancer diagnosis
Washington: Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned, citing her husband’s health problems, becoming the fourth member of the president’s cabinet to leave this year; All of them were women.
Meanwhile, amid uncertainty about the next steps in the war with Iran, Trump announced that he will not attend his son’s wedding this weekend and canceled a planned trip to his golf club in New Jersey to return to the White House.
Gabbard, a cabinet-level official in charge of the US intelligence community including the CIA and the National Security Agency, announced her resignation on social media on Friday (US time), revealing that her husband had been diagnosed with a rare bone cancer.
“It faces huge challenges in the weeks and months ahead,” he said. “I must step away from public service at this time to be with him and fully support him in this fight.”
Gabbard is a former military officer and Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who also served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. However, after leaving office, he took more conservative positions and joined the Republican Party in 2024.
Gabbard, known for her anti-interventionist foreign policy stances and sometimes echoing the Kremlin’s speeches, got on the wrong side of Trump on Iran last year after telling Congress that Iran did not produce nuclear weapons. Trump said at the time: “I don’t care what he says, I think they’re very close to being one.”
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency that Gabbard was forced out by the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from this byline.
However, Trump shared on social media that “unfortunately” he left his post due to the diagnosis of Gabbard’s husband. “Tulsi has done an incredible job and we will miss her,” he said.
Gabbard is the fourth person to leave Trump’s cabinet this year, following former attorney general Pam Bondi, former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and former labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. They are all women.
The development came on a busy Friday in Washington, where Trump presided over the inauguration of the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, and then flew to Suffern, New York state, to help a Republican congressman on the campaign trail.
Trump has confirmed that he will not attend his son Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas this weekend, after previously saying the timing was bad due to the war in Iran.
He also changed his overall schedule for Friday. Instead of heading to his private golf club in New Jersey for the Memorial Day long weekend, he will return to the White House.
“While I would love to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump Family, his future wife, Bettina, government circumstances and my love for the United States do not allow me to do so,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I think it is important for me to stay at the White House in Washington, D.C. during this important time. Congratulations to Don and Bettina!”
The events have sparked speculation about a possible renewed military action against Iran amid the impasse over the deal.
Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to continue the attacks.
“We are at a time that will define President Trump’s legacy,” he said in a statement to X. “His instincts were to finish what he started in Iran, but he is ill-advised to pursue a deal that will not be worth the paper it is written on.
“Our Commander in Chief needs to authorize America’s capable armed forces to destroy Iran’s conventional military capabilities and reopen the strait. Any further dealings with Iran’s Islamist regime risks the perception of weakness. We must finish what we started. The time to act is now.”
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
