Tulsi Gabbard is staring at the chopping block.
The Director of National Intelligence rocketed to the top of DC‘s favorite parlor game Tuesday – who’s next to fall in Trumpland? – after one of her top allies abruptly quit, sending her odds of departure to 59 percent on the prediction site Kalshi.
It’s a surge of 20 points in the wake of the shock resignation of Joe Kent, the now former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
Kent, who is personally close to Gabbard, dramatically announced his resignation from his post in a public letter on Tuesday. Kent reported directly to Gabbard at his old post.
Kent and Gabbard have voiced skepticism about US involvement in the Middle East and foreign adventurism – a sentiment shared by Vice President JD Vance and much of the ‘America First’ contingent of the Republican Party.
Kent, 45, a decorated Army Special Forces veteran who took 11 combat tours, said in his resignation letter to Trump that he felt Israel pressured the President to strike Iran.
He said the war was started ‘due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,’ adding, ‘I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war.’
Gabbard soon after released a statement of her own, noting the DNI’s responsibility in providing the President with the most up-to-date decision, and saying that it was Trump’s call to take action against Iran.
According to the prediction market Kalshi, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is now favored to be the next Trump official to leave the administration
Trump’s Cabinet pose for a picture before Trump’s inauguration in January
Trump said Tuesday that former Director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent is a ‘nice guy’ but that he was ‘weak on security’
‘Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief,’ her statement began.
‘He is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country.’
She continued: ‘After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion.’
It was her first public statement since the war on Iran began on February 28.
The statement notably did not mention Kent or address his underlying complaint that Trump was pressured by Israel to strike.
It also did not address whether Iran was an imminent threat or whether intelligence reports pointed to such a conclusion.
‘I always thought he was a nice guy, but I thought he was very weak on security,’ Trump said, reacting to Kent’s resignation. ‘Very weak on security. I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy.’
‘But when I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out, because he said Iran was not a threat.’
‘After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion,’ Gabbard said in her first public statement since the Iran war began
Joe Kent, former Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, resigned suddenly on Tuesday. He claimed that Israel pressured Trump to strike Iran in his resignation letter
Kent was not involved in briefings on Iran, according to Trump administration officials. Conflicting reports indicate that Gabbard was asked to fire Kent.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not return the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, another official told Fox News that Gabbard had complained about Kent several times.
Officials also told the outlet that Kent was a ‘known leaker’ who would circulate private conversations among the press.
