DNI Tulsi Gabbard says Trump acted because he concluded the Iranian regime 'posed an imminent threat'
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday issued a post on X in which she noted that President Donald Trump targeted Iran based on his conclusion that the regime "posed an imminent threat."
She issued the post in the wake of Joe Kent's resignation from his role as National Counterterrorism Center director over his opposition to the Iran war that Trump launched more than two weeks ago in conjunction with Israel.
"Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country," Gabbard noted in her post.
"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions," she added.
"After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion," Gabbard wrote.
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Kent publicly shared his resignation letter on Tuesday, asserting that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the U.S.
"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," Kent wrote.
"Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," he asserted in the resignation letter.
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Trump pushed back on Tuesday, saying that "it's a good thing that he's out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it."