Tulsi Gabbard on Friday quit the Trump administration and resigned from the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), citing her husband's ailing health.
The 45-year-old also shared her resignation letter on X (formerly Twitter) in which she said her husband, Abraham, has been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.
He will be facing "major challenges" in the coming weeks, Gabbard said, adding that she has decided to step away from public service to support her husband in this battle.
"Abraham has been my rock throughout our eleven years of marriage-standing steadfast through my deployment to East Africa on a Joint Special Operations mission, multiple political campaigns, and now my service in this role," Gabbard said.
"His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge. I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position," she added.
Gabbard also thanked President Donald Trump for placing faith in her. She said she remains committed to ensuring a smooth and thorough transition so that the President and his team experience no disruption in leadership or momentum.
"Thank you for your understanding during this deeply personal and difficult time for our family," she said, "I will remain forever grateful to you and to the American people for the profound honor of serving our nation as DNI."
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was made the intelligence chief in February last year after Trump returned to the White House for a second term. She was the eighth Director of National Intelligence.
Trump says Gabbard did 'great job'
Trump has called Gabbard's resignation unfortunate and said she did a "great job" during her tenure as DNI. He said Gabbard will be leaving his administration on June 30.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump also prayed for Gabbard's husband and said he has no doubt that he will soon be better than ever. He further said Aaron Lukas, who is the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
"Her wonderful husband, Abraham, has been recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together," he said.
Differences over Iran war?
However, reports had emerged that there were growing differences between Gabbard and Trump's move to attack Iran. In March, she had also avoided endorsing the Iran war.
Later, in her written remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gabbard said Iran has not made any new effort to rebuild its nuclear capacity after its programme was "obliterated" in US strikes in June last year. Her remarks were in contradiction to Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that Iran has been building a nuclear weapon.
Gabbard's resignation comes days after Trump ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March amid mounting criticism over her leadership of the department, including the handling of the administration's immigration crackdown and disaster response.
Apart from Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi was also sacked over Justice Department's handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
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