Tulsi Gabbard will resign as the US director of national intelligence on June 30, saying she must leave the Trump administration to stand by her husband after his recent diagnosis with an extremely rare form of bone cancer. Gabbard told President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, and Aaron Lukas, the principal deputy director, will take over as acting director.
In a formal resignation letter obtained by Digital, Gabbard said her husband, Abraham, has been her rock through eleven years of marriage and that she could not in good conscience ask him to face the fight alone while she remained in a demanding post. She said he faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months, and that she is stepping away from public service to fully support him.
Trump said Gabbard has done an incredible job and that the administration will miss her. He also said she rightfully wants to be with her husband as they fight a tough battle together and added that he expects Abraham will soon be better than ever.
Gabbard’s departure closes a short but consequential tenure at the top of the nation’s intelligence apparatus. She was confirmed in 2025 as one of the most powerful figures in US intelligence after Trump returned to the White House, following a political career that began when she was elected to the Hawaii Legislature in 2002 at age 21. She later represented Hawaii in Congress from 2013 to 2021 and ran an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2020.
The resignation also comes after a year in which Gabbard has been largely out of public view as the United States took military action against Iran, increased pressure on Cuba and removed Venezuela’s president. She has previously cast herself as an anti-interventionist, and she faced scrutiny over the administration’s handling of Iran and intelligence assessments about Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities. Her top aide, former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, left the administration two months earlier over the war in Iran.
Even with that backdrop, Gabbard said she has made significant progress at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and pledged to ensure a smooth and thorough transition over the coming weeks. Her resignation takes effect on June 30, 2026, and for the moment the answer to what happens next is straightforward: Lukas runs the office, while Gabbard goes home to her husband.
