(LifeSiteNews) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would nominate former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Gabbard, a former Army lieutenant colonel and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, is known for her staunch non-interventionist foreign policy. After leaving the Democratic Party in 2022 over its “warmongering” and “woke” positions, she joined the Republican Party and endorsed Trump’s presidential bid earlier this year.
“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican!” the statement added. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!” Trump said in a statement.
Shortly after her endorsement, the Trump campaign added Gabbard and another former Democrat, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to his transition team.
The DNI will be a key player in the second Trump administration as the president-elect has vowed to take on the corruption of the Deep State.
In his 10-point plan to dismantle and de-weaponize the deep state, Trump has promised to “clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus. The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled, so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left’s political enemies.”
Gabbard herself has notably been targeted by the deep state, being placed on a “secret terror watch list” by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) after criticizing Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.