Washington,Tulsi Gabbard on Friday resigned from her post as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the Trump administration over her husband's failing health.
The 45-year-old also posted her resignation letter on X (formerly Twitter) in which she revealed her husband, Abraham, has been diagnosed with a very rare form of bone cancer.
"We're going to have some 'major challenges' in the weeks ahead," Gabbard said, explaining that she has decided to step away from public service to stand by her husband in this fight.
“Abraham has been my rock during our eleven years of marriage–standing strong through my deployment to East Africa on a Joint Special Operations mission, multiple political campaigns and now my service in this role,” Gabbard said.
His power and love have brought me through every trial. “I can’t in good conscience ask him to fight this alone while I stay in this demanding, time-consuming job,” she added.
Gabbard also thanked President Donald Trump for his confidence in her. She says she is committed to ensuring a smooth and thorough transition so that there is no disruption in leadership or momentum for the President and his team.
"I will always be grateful to you and to the American people for the profound honor of serving our nation as DNI," she said. "Thank you for your understanding during this deeply personal and difficult time for our family.
When Trump returned to the White House for a second term in February last year, he named Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, intelligence chief. She was the eighth Director of National Intelligence.
Trump says Gabbard did ‘great job’Trump said Gabbard’s resignation was unfortunate and that she did a “great job” as DNI. Gabbard will be leaving his administration June 30, he said.
Trump also prayed for Gabbard's husband in a Truth Social post, stating he has no doubt he will be better than ever soon. He also said Aaron Lukas, the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, will serve as Director of National Intelligence.
“Her wonderful husband Abraham was recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow disease and she rightly wants to be there with him to help him get back to good health as they fight a tough battle together,” he said.
Differences on war in Iran?But reports had surfaced of widening differences between Gabbard and Trump’s move to attack Iran. She had also dodged backing the Iran war in March.
In written remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee later, Gabbard said Iran has made no new effort to rebuild its nuclear capacity after its programme was “obliterated” in US strikes in June last year. Her comments contradicted Trump, who has repeatedly asserted that .
Gabbard’s resignation follows Trump’s ousting of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March amid growing criticism of her leadership of the department, including the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.
Noem was not the only one to be fired. Attorney General Pam Bondi was also fired over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
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