'Do not invite': Trump intentionally excluded his spy chief from Venezuela planning
08 January
Donald Trump with Tulsi Gabbard in Duluth, Georgia, October 23, 2024 (Phil Mistry/Shutterstock.com)
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard was intentionally excluded by President Donald Trump as officials helped plan a military operation in Venezuela last weekend.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that the administration appeared not to have confidence in her in the months of planning leading to the capture of Nicolás Maduro because she previously expressed opposition to such an action in Venezuela.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said that Gabbard had such doubts about the operation that White House aides mocked her title, DNI, as standing for "Do Not Invite."
In 2019, while Gabbard was still in Congress, she advocated that the U.S. should "stay out of Venezuela," Bloomberg recalled. While her time as a Democratic lawmaker may have ended years ago, she was attacking "warmongers" as recently as last month.
Gabbard was among the most controversial appointments to Trump's national security team, drawing criticism from both sides of the political aisle in her U.S. Senate confirmation hearing. She faced criticism over her cozy relationships with Russia and doubted American intelligence regarding Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons on his own people. She also has a long-standing relationship with a sect leader of the Science of Identity Foundation.
Gabbard's exclusion caps ongoing "tensions" in the administration over Trump's DNI pick, the report said.
The White House told Bloomberg that Trump still has "full confidence" in Gabbard.
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