Trump taps Aaron Lukas as acting intelligence

President Donald Trump announced who will take over as the Director of National Intelligence following the sudden resignation of Tulsi Gabbard.

Gabbard will step down from her place to help her husband, Abraham Williams, who is battling “an extremely rare form of bone cancer.” In a Truth Social post, the president revealed that Gabbard will depart on June thirtieth.

“Tulsi has achieved an unimaginable job, and we’ll miss her,” Trump wrote. “Her highly respected Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Aaron Lukas, will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.

Trump wished Gabbard’s husband well on his journey. “Her fantastic husband, Abraham, has been just lately recognized with a uncommon kind of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, needs to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they presently struggle a powerful battle together,” he wrote. “I’ve no doubt he’ll soon be better than ever.”

The president also shared Gabbard’s resignation letter, in whcih she said he is “deeply grateful for the trust you positioned in me and for the chance to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last 12 months and a half.”

Gabbard said her husband “faces major challenges in the approaching weeks and months.”

“At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his facet and absolutely help him through this battle,” she said.

“His strength and love have sustained me through every problem,” she continued. “I can’t in good conscience ask him to face this struggle alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming place.”

Gabbard is just the latest member to leave Trump’s Cabinet. Last month, Pam Bondi was fired as Attorney General. In March, Kristi Noem was removed as Secretary of Homeland Security.

Gabbard was last seen in public supporting the president during his primetime address on Wednesday about the war in Iran, which is at the center of the latest scandal around the now-former National Intelligence Director.

Last month, Gabbard was grilled during testimony before the House Intelligence Committee on March 19 about the Iran war. During the hearing, she avoided a question about whether she agreed with former counterterrorism official Joe Kent’s assessment of the war.

Kent resigned from the administration over disagreements with the president about going to war with Iran, declaring that Iran did not pose an “imminent menace.”

“He [Kent] said a lot of issues in that letter,” Gabbard said in response. “Ultimately, now we have supplied the President with the intelligence assessments, and the president is elected by the American people and makes his own selections based on the data that’s obtainable to him.”

When the president was asked about Gabbard’s answer, he told reporters he still had faith in her but made clear their differences. Trump said of Gabbard, “Yeah, sure. I imply, she’s a little bit different in her thought course of than me, but that doesn’t make any person not obtainable to serve.” Trump also praised her efforts during the hearing, saying, “I assumed she did a good job.”