Trump polled advisers about replacing Tulsi Gabbard as intelligence chief

Donald Trump has privately asked cabinet officials in recent weeks whether he should replace his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, venting frustration that she shielded a former deputy who undercut his rationale for war with Iran, according to two people briefed on the discussions.It is not clear that Trump will actually fire Gabbard over the episode. Currently, there is no standout candidate to take the job, and advisers have cautioned that creating a high-profile vacancy before a successor is ready could cause unhelpful political distractions.But Trump’s discussions marks an ominous development for Gabbard, given the president tends to poll his advisers when he starts to seriously consider whether a personnel change is necessary. The two people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.Trump’s doubts about Gabbard followed her testimony at the world wide threats hearing on Capitol Hill last month where she declined to condemn Joe Kent, who had resigned days earlier after arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States, the people said.The nature of Kent’s departure and his criticism of the war had already angered Trump, but he expressed particular frustration about Gabbard seemingly defending Kent and appearing reluctant to defend the administration’s position to attack Iran, the people said.Asked on Sunday whether he still had confidence in Gabbard’s leadership, Trump offered a mixed endorsement. “Yeah, sure,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I mean, she’s a little bit different in her thought process than me, but that doesn’t make somebody not available to serve.”In a statement, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung defended Gabbard’s tenure.“As President Trump just said in his remarks, he has confidence in Director Gabbard and the tireless work she is doing. He has assembled the most talented and impactful cabinet ever, and they have collectively delivered historic victories on behalf of the American people,” Cheung said.Donald Trump speaks to reporters onboard Air Force One on Sunday. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/APIn his second term, Trump has been averse to firing anyone outright, and has often ended up moving officials that he thinks could become a liability to other roles. Most recently, he demoted Kristi Noem from homeland security secretary to a lesser role as an envoy within the state department.There has been a general recognition in the administration that Gabbard often faces thankless tasks, and has struggled at times to find her own lane as the director of national intelligence, a role that traditionally involves overseeing US intelligence agencies and their competing factions.Gabbard’s testimony that frustrated Trump, for instance, was in line with her longstanding criticism of the US becoming entangled in foreign wars, as well as her previous statements to Congress in 2019 that she believed the president could not legally order pre-emptive attacks.Her testimony also represented remarks that had been workshopped with the CIA in advance of the hearings, according to a person familiar with the matter, who added that Gabbard has been spending nearly every day at the White House in support of the war in Iran.She has won favor with Trump in other moments, including for producing an official report asserting that Russia had not sought to boost Trump’s campaign in 2016 at the expense of Hillary Clinton – a conclusion not shared by congressional investigations at the time.“Over the past two weeks, President Trump said both that he has confidence in the DNI and that she did well at her hearings before Congress. She remains committed to fulfilling the responsibilities the president placed in her,” Olivia Coleman, a spokesperson for Gabbard, said in a statement.But Gabbard has also quickly racked up a list of perceived transgressions, current and former officials said.As early as last June, Trump became irritated by a video Gabbard recorded warning about the horrors of nuclear war after a visit to Hiroshima. Trump felt the video would scare people and that she should not speak in unnecessarily graphic terms.Weeks later, Trump publicly contradicted Gabbard after she testified to lawmakers that Iran had not decided to build a nuclear bomb. “She’s wrong,” Trump told reporters, before authorizing strikes on Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.Gabbard then became the target of White House officials’ ire after she revoked the security clearances of 37 people, including congressional aides, before the West Wing had checked whether they could do so.In the fallout, Gabbard’s allies accused the CIA of trying to manufacture a pretext to bring about her ouster, until the White House mediated a truce.Cate Brown contributed reporting