United States President Donald Trump’s national security officials excluded Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard from planning for Operation Absolute Resolve, the operation behind the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The administration had begun leaving Gabbard out of plans regarding Venezuela last summer, WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
While Gabbard’s office provided intelligence analysis used in the operation, she herself was unaware of it, according to administration officials. Trump and Gabbard are not close, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio preferred to keep her out of the planning, according to those familiar with the situation.
The administration denied the exclusion
Gabbard “and President Trump’s entire team have worked together in lockstep to deliver on his agenda. This is a tired and false narrative attempting to promote a fake story of division when there is none,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
When asked about Gabbard’s exclusion, Vice President JD Vance said “that’s completely false,” adding “We kept it very tight to the senior cabinet-level officials and related officials in our government.”
Gabbard has a history of criticizing US foreign interventions, and criticized the Trump administration during his first term in 2019 for his attitude towards Venezuela, writing, “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future.”
Gabbard also reportedly upset Trump when she testified before Congress, alleging that the US intelligence community had assessed that Iran was “not building a nuclear weapon.”
This led Trump to tell reporters, “I don’t care what she said.”
Gabbard’s absence in Florida during the announcement of Operation Absolute Resolve on Saturday was immediately noticed. Gabbard was in Hawaii, having posted a picture of herself there the day before, and did not comment on the operation until three days later.