Who is Tulsi Gabbard? Meet Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, may face one of the Senate’s toughest confirmation battles.

The 43-year-old former congressman and one-time Democratic presidential candidate has no intelligence experience, but would oversee 18 intelligence agencies with a $100 billion budget.

Gabbard has been accused by public officials of espousing an anti-American agenda that harms American interests, including blaming the US for the war in Ukraine and being sympathetic to US adversaries.

In 2017, Gabbard met twice with Syrian authoritarian leader Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of war crimes against his people during the Syrian civil war, which has killed hundreds of thousands. A few months after the meeting, Gabbard said she was skeptical that Assad had used chemical weapons, despite overwhelming evidence from the US government.

Gabbard has repeated Russian propaganda several times, most notably in a 2022 social media post where she said Russia attacked Ukraine because of US-funded biolabs. The labs are truly public and part of the international effort to stop bioweapons and prevent outbreaks. Russian state television has called Gabbard “our girlfriend.”

Gabbard is anti-war and has strongly criticized both Republican and Democratic administrations for military intervention.

For years, he has resisted claims by senior politicians that he is a Russian asset, and Democrats have warned that he is a national security risk.

“The U.S. intelligence community has identified that he has troubling ties to America’s enemies, so my concern is that he could not pass the background check,” Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said on CNN.

If Gabbard is confirmed for the ID role, she would become one of Trump’s top intelligence advisers, controlling what intelligence the president sees and determining what sensitive information is declassified or not.

“It’s a powerful stance,” said Olivia Troye, a former national security official in the Trump administration. Gabbard “has no insight into what these intelligence operations are like in the community…I wonder what it’s doing to the morale of the community, and I’m concerned about the exodus that might happen.”

Troy added that if Gabbard is confirmed, America’s allies may not share as much information with the United States

“Foreign rivals probably celebrate this moment. I think they managed to get someone sympathetic to their cause. I think that’s troubling and dangerous,” Troy said. “I think for our European allies and others around the world … they’re going to take care of their information and realize, OK, we can no longer partner with the United States to jeopardize our security and when we are worried about being in danger. “.

Gabbard has been heavily critical of Trump’s presidency, saying in 2020 that he was unfit to serve with a long “list of vices and abuses of power.”

Gabbard served as a Democrat for eight years, serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee.

He endorsed Bernie Sanders for president in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 after their failed presidential campaigns. But the once staunch Democrat campaigned for Trump this election cycle and told him in an October appearance that he was joining the Republican Party.

Gabbard is expected to appear on Capitol Hill next week for meetings.

Learn more about Tulsi Gabbard on “ABC News Live Prime” Wednesday night at 7:00 PM ET.