WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Tulsi Gabbard resigned as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence on Friday, saying she needed to leave office as her husband battles cancer. She is the fourth Cabinet member to depart during Trump鈥檚 second term, all of them women.
In her resignation letter, which she posted on social media, Gabbard said she told Trump she would leave her job overseeing the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies on June 30. She said her husband had recently been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and 鈥渇aces major challenges in the coming weeks and months.鈥�
鈥淎t this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,鈥� she wrote in the letter, which was reported earlier by Fox 91欧美激情.
Trump, in his own social media post, said 鈥淭ulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.鈥� He said her principal deputy, Aaron Lukas, will serve as acting director of national intelligence.
While Gabbard says her departure is for personal reasons, the juxtaposition between her long-held, anti-interventionism stance and Trump鈥檚 series of overseas military operations had seemed to put them on a collision course.
Iran put Gabbard and Trump at odds
There had been rumblings that Gabbard would split with Trump after the president’s decision to strike Iran, which caused some division within his administration. Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, in March and said he 鈥渃annot in good conscience鈥� back the war.
Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, built her political name on her opposition to foreign wars. This put her in an awkward position when the U.S. joined Israel in launching attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
During a congressional hearing in March, her measured comments were notable for their careful non-endorsement of the Iran war. She repeatedly dodged questions about whether the White House had been warned of potential fallout from the conflict, including Iran鈥檚 effective closure of the , a waterway crucial for global oil shipments.
Gabbard said in written remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee that there had been no effort by Iran to rebuild its nuclear capability after U.S. attacks last year 鈥渙bliterated鈥� its nuclear program. That statement contradicted Trump, who has repeatedly asserted that the war was necessary to head off an imminent threat from the Islamic Republic.
This created several awkward exchanges with lawmakers who asked Gabbard for her opinion on the threat posed by Iran as the nation鈥檚 top intelligence official. She repeatedly said it was Trump鈥檚 decision to strike, not hers.
鈥淚t is not the intelligence community鈥檚 responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,鈥� she said.
Gabbard鈥檚 departure follows Trump having in late March, in the midst of mounting criticism over her leadership of the department 鈥� including the handling of the administration鈥檚 immigration crackdown and disaster response.
The second Cabinet member to leave was Attorney General Pam Bondi, in response to growing frustration over the Justice Department鈥檚 handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. And Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April, after being the target of various misconduct investigations.
Lukas, who will be taking over for Gabbard, was an intelligence aide to the acting director of national intelligence, Ric Grenell, in 2020 during Trump’s first term. A former policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, he also served as deputy senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council in the final year of Trump鈥檚 previous administration.
A surprising choice for the job
A military veteran but without any intelligence experience, was a surprising choice for director of national intelligence. She ran for president in 2020 on a progressive platform and her opposition to U.S. involvement in foreign military conflicts.
Citing her military experience, she argued that U.S. wars in the Middle East had destabilized the region, made the U.S. less safe and cost thousands of American lives. Gabbard later dropped out of the race and endorsed the ultimate winner, President .
Two years later, she left the Democratic Party to become , saying her old party was dominated by an 鈥渆litist cabal of warmongers鈥� and 鈥渨oke鈥� ideologues. She subsequently campaigned for several high-profile Republicans and became a contributor to Fox 91欧美激情.
She later endorsed Trump, who also was a strong critic of past U.S. wars in the Middle East and campaigned on a pledge to avoid unnecessary wars and nation-building overseas.
Iran caused early tensions
But friction with the president started soon after he began his second term and tapped Gabbard to lead ODNI, which was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to improve coordination between the nation鈥檚 intelligence agencies.
Shortly after taking on the job and before this year’s war, Gabbard testified before lawmakers that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. After Trump launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites last June, he said Gabbard was wrong and that .
She appeared to be back in Trump鈥檚 good graces when she took a lead role in Trump鈥檚 effort to relitigate his 2020 election loss to Biden. She appeared at an FBI search of election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, even though her office was created to focus on foreign espionage, not state elections.
Gabbard made big changes in her time in office
Gabbard vowed to eliminate what she said was the politicization of intelligence by government insiders. But she quickly used her office to support some of Trump鈥檚 most partisan arguments 鈥� that he won the 2020 election.
She also worked to the results of earlier investigations into Trump鈥檚 ties to Russia.
In her year on the job, Gabbard oversaw a sharp reduction in the intelligence workforce, as well as the creation of a new task force that she to the intelligence service.
Earlier this year, an intelligence sector whistleblower filed a complaint that Gabbard was withholding intelligence for political reasons, a complaint that prompted calls from Democrats for Gabbard鈥檚 resignation.
Gabbard, 44, was born in the U.S. territory of American Samoa, raised in Hawaii and spent a year of her childhood in the Philippines. She was first elected as a 21-year-old to Hawaii鈥檚 House of Representatives but had to leave after one term when her National Guard unit deployed to Iraq.
As the first Hindu member of the House, Gabbard was sworn into office with her hand on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu devotional work. She was also the .
During her , she became known for speaking out against her party鈥檚 leadership. Her early support for Sen. 鈥� 2016 Democratic presidential primary run made her a popular figure in progressive politics nationally.
___
Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
