Tenure
Gabbard was sworn in as the 8th director of national intelligence (DNI) on February 12, 2025, by Attorney General Pam Bondi, taking the position responsible for leading 18 U.S. intelligence agencies and assuming the role of president's top intelligence adviser. After her swearing-in, Gabbard promised to "focus on ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people" while echoing Trump's claims of politicization of the intelligence community and the need to rebuild trust. With this appointment, she became the first female military combat veteran to serve as DNI and first Pacific Islander American and first Hindu American to hold a Cabinet-level position.
Immediately after being sworn in, Gabbard made her first international trip as DNI to Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference. In March 2025, Gabbard's second international trip was to Asia with a focus on the Indo-Pacific, including Japan, Thailand, and India. Before traveling to Asia, Gabbard stopped in Hawaii, which hosts the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command headquarters. In her visit to India, Gabbard attended the Raisina Dialogue, an annual multinational conference of security officials held in New Delhi, and outlined the Trump administration's strategy for global peace and security.
In March 2025, Gabbard, along with other senior members of the administration, discussed the plans for the US's attacks in Yemen on a Signal group chat that inadvertently included journalist Jeffrey Goldberg. When questioned by Congress, Gabbard admitted the addition of Goldberg to the chat by Mike Waltz was a "mistake", but claimed none of the information discussed was classified. After the Signal leak, reporters of Der Spiegel used other leaked data such as WikiLeaks to find personal online accounts of Gabbard and several other U.S. security officials. Gabbard's office asserted that she had not used those online accounts for several years.
In May 2025, Gabbard reoriented U.S. intelligence towards border security, counterterrorism, and counternarcotics, based upon the current administration's national security priorities. Speaking at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium, Gabbard noted the emphasis on domestic border surveillance, while addressing professionals across the geospatial intelligence sector. Further consolidation of intelligence operations included moving the National Intelligence Council (NIC) to the DNI's office. Gabbard also fired the two NIC officials after the council contradicted the Trump administration's position on Venezuelan gang members.
In July 2025, Gabbard released a previously classified report prepared by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. The report claimed that former President Obama's administration had manipulated intelligence to suggest that Russia had sought to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign, and boost Trump's campaign, in the 2016 presidential election. Gabbard claimed that this report, which was made in September 2020, provided "irrefutable evidence" of a "treasonous conspiracy", directly implicating Obama, to undermine the results of the 2016 election. In response, Obama dismissed the allegations as "outrageous and ridiculous" and "a weak attempt at distraction".
In August 2025, Gabbard implemented a 50% cut in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence staff and a $700 million reduction in its annual funding. According to the Federal News Network, Gabbard had already reduced ODNI staff by 25%; the BBC reported it was unclear if the 50% reduction was from a baseline before or after the 25% reduction. Gabbard also revoked the security clearances of 37 U.S. officials, who were accused of "politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards". The officials included those involved in assessments on Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election and others who worked on national security under former Presidents Biden and Obama, and those who signed a letter supporting the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
In December 2025, at a Turning Point event, Gabbard accused the Council on American-Islamic Relations of advocating the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law, in the United States, which Gabbard called antithetical to the United States Constitution. Gabbard further claimed that the city government of Paterson, New Jersey was planning to impose sharia, though Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh rejected her claims and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said these claims were dishonest.
In January 2026, Gabbard was briefly present during the FBI raid of Fulton County, Georgia election office, where agents seized ballots relating to the 2020 presidential election. Responding to criticism of her actions by Democrats, who were concerned with the involvement of the DNI in domestic criminal matters, Gabbard stated that Trump requested her presence and said she had "broad statutory authority" over election security and counterintelligence. In February 2026, there were allegations that Gabbard was "stonewalling" a whistleblower complaint about her handling of a call "between two members of foreign intelligence" which mentioned Jared Kushner.
In March 2026, Trump indicated that he and Gabbard differ on their approach to Iran and its nuclear program that Iran said were for civilian uses including generating nuclear power, labeling her as "softer" on the issue. In March 2026, Gabbard later stated that Iran posed a long-term threat due to the progression of its ballistic missile program. Responding to queries on immediate threat, she argued that "It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat", and that assessment was at the discretion of the President. Further, Gabbard stated, "Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan" have been developing advanced missile delivery systems that can reach the U.S. homeland.
In June 2026, during her final days as Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard's office released 67 declassified documents concerning the origins of COVID-19, U.S.-funded coronavirus research involving the Wuhan Institute of Virology, intelligence community assessments, and communications involving former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the release followed a year-long declassification review. In the release, Gabbard said the documents showed that Fauci had influenced intelligence assessments regarding COVID-19's origins, funded research connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and provided false testimony to Congress. Subsequent news analyses concluded that the documents did not, by themselves, substantiate several of Gabbard's broader allegations. They also noted that the origins of COVID-19 remain disputed and that U.S. intelligence agencies have not reached a consensus.
