Is it over for Tulsi Gabbard? Furious Donald Trump could fire National Intelligence chief for Iran report leak

As his administration continues to reel from the aftermath of the damning intelligence report, speculations are rife that US President Donald Trump could fire Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard had been at the crossfire with Trump since March over her assessment that "Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon", which was snubbed by Trump who said he "didn't care what she said".

 

However, with the leak of the early US intelligence assessment which said the US strikes did not destroy the core components of the nuclear programme, Gabbard became an outcast in the administration. 

 

So much so that Gabbard will not be present when key national security leaders brief lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, according to the Washington Post. The briefing which will happen on Thursday will feature Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine. Though Gabbard was initially supposed to be part of the group, her name was later omitted. 

 

There are also reports that the administration tried to pull Ratcliffe from the briefing, but the move was met with pushback from Senate leadership. 

 

Meanwhile, journalist and Trump's biographer Micheal Wolff said Gabbard could be fired by Trump as she is a "stooge" at this point. "It’s always important in the Trump script, the fallback is always who to blame, who to blame," Wolff told The Daily Beast’s podcast. "Just have to have someone to blame. Tulsi is in the line of fire." 

 

The leak of the intelligence report, which contradicted Trump's statement that Iran's nuclear facilities have been "obliterated" in US bombing, is being investigated by the White House. "They will try to find someone to blame. Within the White House, within the West Wing, what they are saying as of this morning, who this is being pinned on, is Tulsi," Wolff added.

 

The report claimed that the US stroke did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear programme and likely only set it back by months.

 

However, Gabbard rushed in to control the damage on Wednesday with a post on X around 2 pm. "New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed," she said. Gabbard also hit out at the “propaganda media” in her post.

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