Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard (born April 12, 1981, Leloaloa, American Samoa) is an American politician and military officer who was selected by President-elect Donald Trump in 2024 to serve as director of national intelligence (DNI) in his second administration. Gabbard previously represented Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives (2013–21). In 2020 she unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, and four years later she joined the Republican Party. Beginning in 2003 Gabbard served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and later in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Early life, military career, and education

Gabbard is one of five children born to Carol (née Porter) Gabbard and Mike Gabbard. For a time the family lived in American Samoa before settling in Hawaii in 1983. While a teenager, Gabbard adopted her mother’s faith, Hinduism; her father is Roman Catholic. Both parents worked in education, although Mike Gabbard later served in the state legislature.

In 2002 Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, won a seat in Hawaii’s House of Representatives. Just 21 years old, she became the youngest person ever elected to the state’s legislature. The following year, after the United States invaded Iraq, she joined the Hawaii Army National Guard. In 2004 she left the state House to serve in Iraq, where she was assigned to a medical unit. She returned to the United States in 2005 and was awarded a Combat Medical Badge. Gabbard then studied at the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy, graduating in 2007. From 2008 to 2009 she trained counterterrorism units in Kuwait. She left the National Guard in 2020 to join the Army Reserve. During this time, she studied business management at Hawaii Pacific University (B.S., 2009).

Congress and presidential run

In 2010 Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council. Two years later she ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although initially considered a long shot, she won her party’s primary and then the general election. When she took office the following year, she became the first American Samoan and the first Hindu in Congress. As a representative, Gabbard supported progressive causes, including gun control, abortion rights, universal health care, and free college tuition. She also was an isolationist, calling for the U.S. to withdraw from various foreign conflicts.

Considered a rising star in the party, Gabbard was elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2013. However, three years later she resigned from the position to endorse Bernie Sanders’s presidential bid. He lost the party’s nomination to Hillary Clinton, who in turn lost to Trump in the 2016 general election.

In 2019 Gabbard entered the 2020 presidential race, vowing to “bring a soldier’s values and principles to the White House—restoring the values of dignity, honor, and respect to the presidency. And above all, love for our people and love of country.” After failing to garner support among her fellow Democrats, she ultimately dropped out and endorsed Joe Biden, who went on to defeat Trump. The next year Gabbard left Congress.

Shift to Republican Party and DNI nomination

Gabbard subsequently began to shift positions on a number of issues, notably tempering her support for abortion access and environmental legislation. However, she remained a vocal anti-interventionist. Gabbard became a frequent guest on conservative TV programs, on which she criticized Democrats. In 2022 she quit the party, calling it an “elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness.” After two years as an independent, she joined the Republican Party in 2024. That year she endorsed Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and served on his campaign.

After Trump was elected president, he chose Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence. If confirmed by the Senate, she will oversee the U.S.’s 18 intelligence agencies. The selection brought increased attention to her views on foreign affairs, especially in regard to Syria and Russia. In 2017 she surprised U.S. officials by holding an unauthorized meeting with Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad, whose government was accused of committing war crimes during his country’s civil war. She also questioned U.S. intelligence reports that Assad had used banned chemical weapons on his people.

Gabbard has also been accused of having pro-Russia sympathies, including by some of her fellow Republicans. At the start of the Russia-Ukraine War (2022– ), she claimed that there were “legitimate security concerns” over Ukraine’s intent to join NATO, echoing one of Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin’s rationales for invading the country. She has repeated pro-Kremlin disinformation but has denied doing so, and she has been praised in Russian state media.

Personal life

In 2002 Gabbard married Eduardo Tamayo. They divorced four years later. Gabbard wed Abraham Williams in 2015. Her husband is a cinematographer.