United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard resigned from her position on Friday, posting her resignation letter to X/Twitter.
In the letter, addressed to US President Donald Trump, Gabbard said she was “deeply grateful” to Trump for giving her the position.
Gabbard cited her husband’s recent bone cancer diagnosis as a reason for her resignation, saying she “must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him during this battle.”
Gabbard said that her resignation would go into effect on June 30, noting the “significant progress” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) had made under her leadership.
“I recognize there is still important work to be done,” added Gabbard. “I am fully committed to ensuring a smooth and thorough transition over the coming weeks so that you and your team experience no disruption in leadership or momentum.”
She concluded her letter by thanking Trump for his understanding, adding that she is “grateful to you [Trump] and the American people for the profound honor of serving our nation as DNI.”
Trump acknowledged Gabbard’s resignation in a Truth Social post on Friday, saying she had done an “incredible job” and that her Principal Deputy, Aaron Lukas, would be appointed Acting Director of National Intelligence.
On March 30, Trump said that Gabbard was “softer” than him on curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
When asked by a reporter whether he retained confidence in Gabbard, Trump responded: “Yeah, sure.”
“She’s a little bit different in her thought process than me,” said Trump. “But that doesn’t make somebody not available to serve.”
“I would say that I’m very strong on the fact that I don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon because if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it immediately,” added Trump. “I think she’s probably a little bit softer on that issue, but that’s okay.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
