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President Donald Trump nominated Tulsi Gabbard, 43, to serve as director of national intelligence on Nov. 13, 2024. She was confirmed by the Senate and sworn into office on Feb. 12. Gabbard is a former Democratic member of the House of Representatives and military veteran who became a prominent Trump supporter after a rapid political transformation.
Gabbard assumes this crucial intelligence position amid scrutiny over her political fundraising activities and statements about U.S. adversaries that critics say align with Russian positions.
Who is she?
Gabbard represented Hawaii in the House from 2013 to 2021, making history as the first Samoan American and Hindu American member of Congress. She served nearly two decades in the Army National Guard, making deployments to Iraq and Kuwait; she received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005.
After an unsuccessful run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, she left the party in 2022, declaring it an “elitist cabal of warmongers.” Gabbard endorsed Trump in August 2024 and officially joined the Republican Party in October, two weeks before the 2024 election.
Gabbard has publicly agreed with Russia’s positions on its invasion of Ukraine, claiming Moscow had legitimate security concerns about Ukraine joining NATO, and she suggested the war could have been avoided if NATO had acknowledged those concerns. She repeated debunked Russian claims about U.S.-funded biological labs in Ukraine, drawing criticism for spreading misinformation. While Russian state media has praised her views, Gabbard denies spreading propaganda and recently told the Senate she would not “give Russia a pass” if confirmed as DNI.
While Gabbard has military experience, she does not have a background in intelligence, with her most relevant experience being two years on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Follow the money
- Gabbard has run for public office seven times since 2002, raising a total of over $21 million. Her biggest contributors were members of the U.S. Army, followed by Defense Department employees, Hawaii civil servants, Boeing employees and the company’s political action committee.
- Gabbard has established multiple PACs since 2023, some of which have raised questions about donor documentation and financial management after they raised millions of dollars but spent only a small fraction of that money on candidates, all of whom were MAGA-aligned Republicans.
- Team Tulsi’s sole political expenses were a $16,000 donation to her own Defend Freedom PAC and $1,500 to Anedot, Inc., an online fundraising platform.
- Defend Freedom, Inc. contributed to Donald Trump; former Rep. Mayra Flores of Texas, who failed to recapture a seat in Congress in 2024; Joe Kent, who lost races for a U.S. House seat in Washington state in 2022 and 2024; and newly elected Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.). The PAC spent $33,000 to purchase copies of Gabbard’s autobiography.
- Our Freedom, Our Future also donated to Kent, as well as Esther Joy King, who twice lost U.S. House races in Illinois; Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.); and Yesli Vega, who unsuccessfully campaigned in 2022 to represent Virginia in the House.
- For Love of Country, Inc. a hybrid PAC, made no political contributions in 2024 despite raising nearly $470,000. The largest donation — $100,000 — came from David Flory, whose address was not listed in campaign disclosures (which is required under federal law). His identity remains unclear. Las Vegas hotel mogul Steve Wynn, a former Republican National Committee finance chair, donated $50,000. Wynn resigned from both the RNC and Wynn Resorts in 2018 following allegations of sexual assault. The PAC is under investigation by the FEC regarding $151,000 in donations that were placed in the wrong account.
- Gabbard is also the founder of We Must Protect, a nonprofit focused on disaster relief in Maui. Despite promising “every dollar” would go to fire relief, the organization spent only about 34 percent of funds raised, with nearly half the money remaining in its bank account at year’s end.
Why does it matter?
Gabbard’s appointment to oversee America’s 18 intelligence agencies and their $70 billion budget raised significant concerns among Trump’s opponents, given her limited experience in the intelligence community and her past foreign policy statements that align with Russian interests. Investigations into the financial management of her PACs and nonprofit raise questions about transparency and accountability — from misplaced donations to the gap between promises and actual spending on stated causes.
This track record, combined with her dramatic transformation from Democratic presidential candidate to Trump supporter, and her criticism of U.S. intelligence agencies, has sparked debate about whether she can effectively lead the intelligence community while maintaining crucial international partnerships.
This article is part of a series examining the role political money has played in the careers of President Donald Trump’s nominees for executive branch positions.
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