President Donald Trump went off on Tulsi Gabbard, his Director of National Intelligence, after she released a video warning the world is being pushed “on the brink of nuclear annihilation” — a message Trump didn’t approve and saw as a direct challenge to his foreign policy.
The video, posted June 10, caught Trump completely off guard. In it, Gabbard took aim at “political elites and warmongers” who she said are dragging the world toward nuclear war.
According to Politico, Trump was “incensed” when he saw it. “He complained to associates at the White House that she had spoken out of turn,” the report said, citing three people familiar with the incident — two of them from inside the administration.
The timing made it worse. Gabbard’s video went live just days after Trump met with pro-Israel hardliners at the White House. To his inner circle, the message looked like a direct shot at the administration’s backing of Israeli strikes on Iran.
“I don’t think he dislikes Tulsi as a person … But certainly the video made him not super hot on her … and he doesn’t like it when people are off message,” one senior official told Politico. “Many took that video as trying to correct the administration’s position.”
Trump reportedly confronted Gabbard personally and made it clear he was not happy. One insider said he’s “just been kind of down on her in general,” adding that Trump believes she “doesn’t add anything to any conversation.”
Despite the fallout, Gabbard has claimed there’s no rift. “We’re on the same page,” she said, referring to the situation with Iran.
But Trump didn’t back her up. When asked about her earlier claim that Iran wasn’t actively building a nuclear weapon, he dismissed it outright.
“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I think they were very close to having one.”
The clash shows growing tension between Trump and his own intelligence chief — and signals what happens when someone inside his circle dares to go off script.
Here’s the video that set Trump into a rage:
I recently visited Hiroshima, and stood at the epicenter of a city scarred by the unimaginable horror caused by a single nuclear bomb dropped in 1945. What I saw, the stories I heard, and the haunting sadness that remains, will stay with me forever. pic.twitter.com/TmxmxiGwnV
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) June 10, 2025
