Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that she is resigning from her role as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and that she was stepping away from her role to help him.
Gabbard informed Trump of her intention to resign during an Oval Office meeting on Friday, the news agency previously reported. Fox News Digital. The resignation will take effect on June 30, according to the report.
A source familiar with the matter said Gabbard was forced out by the White House. Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, said on X that Gabbard was stepping aside due to her husband’s diagnosis.
“Tulsi Gabbard is an America First patriot who has served this country faithfully and extremely well over the past 16 months,” Ingle said.
In her resignation letter published on
She cited her husband Abraham Williams’ recent diagnosis of a rare form of bone cancer.
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“I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming role,” she said.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas would serve as acting director of national intelligence.
He said Gabbard did ‘a great job,’ but with her husband’s bone cancer diagnosis, ‘she rightfully wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together.’
In the past, Trump has hinted that there were differences with Gabbard regarding her approach to Iran, saying in March that she was ‘softer’ than he was regarding curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
In April, multiple sources told Reuters that Gabbard could lose her role in a broader cabinet shuffle.
A senior White House official then said that Trump had expressed displeasure with Gabbard in recent months. Another source with direct knowledge of the matter said the president had asked allies for their opinions on possible replacements for his intelligence chief.
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“Forced to leave”
Signs of White House discontent included Gabbard’s absence from deliberations between Trump and his top national security advisers on the US military operation that deposed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Iran and Cuba war.
‘She was forced to leave by the White House,’ he told Reuters a source familiar with Gabbard’s departure. ‘The White House has been unhappy with her for some time.’
