Under Trump, Tulsi Gabbard will be America’s intelligence czar

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Gabbard — a former Democratic Congresswoman and presidential ticket aspirant, a recent convert to Republican ranks, a staunch critic of America’s foreign wars and someone who has openly expressed an understanding of the Russian position on the Ukraine war — as the director of national intelligence, a position that oversees all of America’s intelligence agencies.

Gabbard, a veteran who was deployed in Iraq and remains a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserve, will be the first Hindu, the first person with roots in American Samoa, and the first person from Hawaii at the pinnacle of what’s often called America’s “deep state”.

Announcing the decision, Trump said, “For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans. As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican! 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!”

Speaking to Fox News after her nomination, which is subject to a Senate confirmation, Gabbard said that she was grateful to accept Trump’s nomination to protect the “safety, security and freedom” of the American people. Gabbard said that Trump wasn’t waiting for January 20 and had already hit the ground running with his engagements with foreign leaders.

Personal story

Gabbard was born in American Samoa and grew up in Hawaii where her parents were devotees of a splinter group from ISKCON called the Science of Identity Foundation. A family of Krishna devotees, Gabbard’s father was engaged in state politics, a local movement opposing same-sex marriages, and eventually became a Honolulu city council member and state legislator and still serves as a state senator in Hawaii. Gabbard was deeply influenced by her guru, Chris Butler, grew up with Gita as a guiding text, and has openly owned her Hindu roots.

When she was 21, in 2002, Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii state of representatives. After her deployment in Iraq, she worked as a Senate aide before getting elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Hawaii in 2012. Her rise in the House was swift, as she made a mark in several Congressional committees and rose up the Democratic National Committee party leadership structure. She threw her hat in the Democratic presidential primaries in 2019-2020, but after a failed bid, left the party and criticised it for its support for foreign wars of “regime change”.

Earlier this year, she backed Trump. During the election campaign, Gabbard helped Trump in presidential debate preparations. She was an active campaigner on the election trail, and her presence, along with that of Robert F Kennedy, allowed Trump to claim that he represented a much wider coalition of interests including former Democrats. Gabbard formally joined the Republican Party at the end of October.

No foreign wars

Gabbard has taken a strong position against American interventionism abroad — she has often cited Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya among others as examples of how US interference only made things worse. It is a position that drew criticism from both Democratic liberal internationalists and older Republican neo-conservatives, but won her support of the isolationist Right over the years eventually leading to her engagement with Trump.

On February 23, 2022, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, Gabbard posted on what was then Twitter, “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border.”

Gabbard’s nomination immediately drew a backlash from Democrats, some of whom have termed her a “Russian asset”.

Abigail Spanberger, a House representative from Virginia and a former intelligence official, said on X, “As a former CIA case officer, I saw the men and women of the U.S. intelligence community put their lives on the line every day for this country — and I am appalled at the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead DNI. Not only is she ill-prepared and unqualified, but she traffics in conspiracy theories and cozies up to dictators like Bashar-al Assad and Vladimir Putin. As a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am deeply concerned about what this nomination portends for our national security. My Republican colleagues with a backbone should speak out.”

In the interview with Fox on Wednesday evening, Gabbard said that the resistance from the “swamp in Washington” was expected but the American voters had delivered a “mandate for change” and Trump was focused on putting the interests of Americans first.

Commitment to ties with India

For India, Gabbard’s nomination is good news. Along with other Trump national security appointees – NSA designate Mike Waltz and Secretary of State designate Marco Rubio — Gabbard has been publicly and consistently supportive of a strong US-India strategic partnership.

But in Gabbard’s case, the support extends beyond the strategic domain given her close political engagement with India’s political leadership and her religious beliefs.

She spoke out against the US visa ban imposed on the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi before the 2014 election as hurting ties. She met Modi back in 2014 itself, even gifting him a copy of her personal Gita, and expressed her commitment to bilateral ties and the fight against Islamist terror. She has spoken at events hosted by India Foundation, a thinktank close to the government. Gabbard has also kept in touch with Indian-American supporters and Hindu institutions in America over the years and often spoken out against anti-Hindu bigotry.

Given the deep intelligence cooperation between India and US, especially on matters related to the shared threat from China, as well as challenges emanating from cases such as the alleged assassination plot on US soil that implicates a former Indian government official, Gabbard’s role will be crucial in shaping the future of the relationship.