Tulsi Gabbard to step down as U.S. intelligence chief
Tulsi Gabbard will step down as U.S. director of national intelligence on June 30, citing her husband’s recent diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Gabbard said she would leave public service to support her husband, Abraham Williams, during his treatment. Williams is a photographer from Hawaii.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Gabbard had done “an incredible job” and confirmed that her deputy, Aaron Lukas, would serve as acting director after her departure.
Gabbard’s resignation comes at a time of debate over U.S. policy toward Iran. Earlier this year, her comments on intelligence assessments drew attention after they appeared to differ from Trump’s public statements on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Before joining Trump’s Cabinet, Gabbard represented Hawaii in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021 as a Democrat. She later left the party and endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Gabbard also serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and has been deployed to the Middle East and Africa. Her nomination as intelligence chief drew scrutiny from some officials and lawmakers over her foreign policy positions and limited intelligence experience.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Donald Trump said he may be the U.S. president to intervene in Cuba.