Trump Names Hindu American and Modi Admirer Tulsi Gabbard Director of National Intelligence
- Hindu American groups applauded the appointment and congratulated the former Hawaii Congresswoman for becoming the highest ranking Hindu American in the White House.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence. She would oversee 18 spy agencies and would be responsible for preparing the Presidentâs Daily Brief, and would be a top intelligence adviser to the White House along with John Ratcliffe, the newly-named head of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman and the first Hindu American to serve in Congress, became one of Trumpâs most enthusiastic backers. A lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who served in Iraq, she has been a longtime critic of the foreign policy establishment. If confirmed, she will be the first cabinet member to identify as a Hindu.
The New York Times notes that Gabbardâs nomination is âanother sign that Trump intends to give top foreign policy jobs to supporters who are deeply skeptical of the effectiveness of U.S. military intervention abroad.â
In a statement announcing the appointment, Trump praised Gabbard and said he knows she “will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through.â He further noted that Gabbard was âa former Democrat who had joined the Republican Party because of President Trumpâs leadership and how he has been able to transform the Republican Party, bringing it back to the party of the people and the party of peace.â
After endorsing Trump in August, Gabbard was named honorary co-chair of Trumpâs transition team. She was briefly considered to be Donald Trumpâs running mate and was helping Trump prepare for his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. She left the Democratic party in 2021 accusing it of being âunder complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers who are driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoking anti-white racism.â
But she has âlong signaled some level of support for Trump, even while she sat in the U.S. House as a Democrat,â according to the Associated Press. An outspoken critic of aid to Ukraine and U.S. military interventions overseas and has âoften shared Trumpâs approach toward the world in his post-presidency,â The Washington Post said. In 2019, she was the only lawmaker to vote âpresentâ when the House of Representatives impeached Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.
A Modi admirer, Gabbard had openly criticized Washington’s decision to ban Modiâs visa owing to his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots. Further, in December 2013, she had voiced her opposition to the House Resolution 417 which criticized India for failing to protect the rights and freedoms of religious minorities.
In 2019, after meeting Modi in New York, she released a statement noted that the two had “a productive conversation about the importance of the U.S.-India relationship.” A a former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, she further noted that the discussions included “the need to continue to work together to address the pressing issues that impact us and the world â like combating climate change and protecting our environment, improving the economic well-being of our people, increasing trade, counterterrorism efforts, and preventing nuclear war and nuclear proliferation. “
After she announced her intent to run in the presidential race, Gabbard alleged that some media outlets were targeting her and accusing her supporters of being Hindu nationalists. In a January 2019 op-ed for the Religious News Services, she pointed to the accusation against her of being a Hindu nationalist. âMy meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indiaâs democratically elected leader, have been highlighted as âproofâ of this and portrayed as somehow being out of the ordinary or somehow suspect, even though President [Barack] Obama, Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, President [Donald] Trump and many of my colleagues in Congress have met with and worked with him.â
Gabbard has considerable support from Hindu nationalist organizations in America like The Hindu American Foundation. Among those who congratulated Gabbard on her appointed was Ohio State Sen. Niran Antani, a Republican, who commended her for becoming âthe highest ranking Hindu Americans in the White House in American history.â
The Hindu American PAC also took to X applaud Gabbard, âa prominent Hindu American political leader, was the 1st congressional candidate ever endorsed by HAPAC in 2012.â Sharing the PACâs post, the Hindu American Foundation wrote: âexcellent choice.â