'Incensed' Trump clashes with spy chief who posted 'cryptic' warning
President Donald Trump is reportedly frustrated with his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, after she posted a “cryptic” video warning about the threat of nuclear war – a message that appeared to be at odds with the MAGA administration’s position as tensions involving Iran escalate.
That’s according to a new report in Politico, which detailed Trump’s reaction to Gabbard’s June 10 warning of “political elites and warmongers” pushing the world “on the brink of nuclear annihilation.”
“Trump saw the unauthorized video and became incensed, complaining to associates at the White House that she had spoken out of turn, according to three people familiar with the episode — two of them inside the administration and all granted anonymity to describe sensitive dynamics,” Politico reported.
The video, posted just days after Trump met with pro-Israel hawks at the White House, was seen by Trump and his inner circle as a veiled attempt to dissuade him from backing Israeli strikes on Iran, the publication added.
“I don’t think he dislikes Tulsi as a person … But certainly the video made him not super hot on her … and he doesn’t like it when people are off message,” one senior administration official told Politico. “Many took that video as trying to correct the administration’s position.”
Trump reportedly confronted Gabbard personally over the video, and according to another administration insider who spoke to Politico, “just been kind of down on her in general.” The official added that Trump thinks she “doesn’t add anything to any conversation.”
Still, Gabbard has insisted she and the president remain “on the same page” about Iran. But the new reporting follows other signs of strain, including Trump’s public dismissal of Gabbard’s testimony in March that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon.
"I don't care what she said," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One this week. "I think they were very close to having one.”