WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) – Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she is resigning from her job as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and that she was stepping away from her role to help him.
Gabbard advised Trump of her intention to step down during an Oval Office meeting on Friday, Fox News Digital reported earlier. The resignation is effective June 30, it said.
A source familiar with the matter said that Gabbard had been forced out by the White House.
In her resignation letter posted on X, Gabbard told Trump she was “deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half.”
She cited her husband’s recent diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer.
“I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming post,” she said.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Aaron Lukas, would serve as acting director of national intelligence.
He said Gabbard had done “a great job” but with her husband diagnosed with bone cancer, “she, rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together.”
Trump has hinted in the past at differences with Gabbard on their approach to Iran, saying in March that she was “softer” than him on curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil, Doina Chiacu, Erin Blanco and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Don Durfee and Deepa Babington)
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