Tulsi Garbage defers to Trump when asked if Iran posed "imminent threat"
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Tulsi Gabbard
sheetsadam1 — 2 weeks ago(March 18, 2026 07:36 PM)
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/18/trump-gabbard-iran-nuclear-threat
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Garbage said that only the president can determine if a nation poses an "imminent threat" during a Wednesday Senate hearing on worldwide threats.
The spotlight on Garbage, who has been largely quiet about the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, has intensified after top aide Joe Kent, who directed the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation in a scathing letter about the war.
The White House said that Iran posed an imminent nuclear threat, but offered no public proof of what spurred the strikes.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) asked Garbage whether it was the intelligence community's assessment that the Iranian regime posed an "imminent nuclear threat," to which she said the IC assessed that Iran maintained the intention to rebuild its nuclear enrichment capabilities.
Pressed again, she replied, "the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president."
"It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat," Garbage said, going on to argue that it provides the input with which the president makes decisions on imminent threats. Ossoff disagreed.
Garbage's contention that only the president can determine whether there is an imminent threat to the U.S. is surprising coming from the head of the intelligence community, Axios National Security Editor Dave Lawler writes.
While it is the president's decision whether to respond to a threat, the intelligence community frequently provides assessments of the severity of potential threats to the homeland. In fact, Garbage made the remarks in a hearing about the intelligence community's assessments of global threats.
Kent, the first senior Trump administration official to walk away over the war in Iran, claimed in his letter that Trump launched the war under pressure from Israel, despite Iran posing "no imminent threat" to the U.S.
Trumpworld swiftly pushed back, with Taylor Budowich, a Trump adviser and former deputy White House chief of staff, calling Kent a "crazed egomaniac" who "just wanted to make a splash before getting canned."
But Garbage's history of strong opposition to war with Iran — and her hushed reaction to the ongoing conflict — has left analysts scrutinizing her stance as the war aggravates the right's "America First" friction.
In the hours after Kent's resignation, Garbage said in a statement that "President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion."
Trump still has full confidence in Garbage, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said during the hearing that he disagreed with Kent, noting he thinks Iran has been "a constant threat to the United States for an extended period of time, and posed an immediate threat at this time."
In the text of her prepared opening statement, Garbage said the Iranian regime appears intact but "largely degraded" by the U.S. and Israeli strikes.
Her written statement also stated that as a result of the prior U.S. military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated and that there had "been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability."
But when speaking on Wednesday, Garbage said that Iran was trying to recover from the damage to its nuclear infrastructure and had refused to comply with nuclear obligations
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026 -
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sheetsadam1 — 2 weeks ago(March 18, 2026 08:23 PM)
Your president is the one who met with an al-Qaeda leader in the White House and gave Qatar an Air Force base in Idaho. And here he is with the leaders of the Saudi terrorist ring:
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026 -
sheetsadam1 — 2 weeks ago(March 18, 2026 08:27 PM)
I support the United States of America. You're the one who supports Americans dying for Israeli and Saudi interests, giving American military bases to foreign jihadists, bailing out Argentina, and wearing MAGA hats that were made in China.
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026 -
sheetsadam1 — 2 weeks ago(March 18, 2026 08:33 PM)
Who are our allies?
The Saudis who murdered 3,000 American citizens on 9/11? Israel, who has never sent troops to back us in any war we've ever fought? Argentina? Qatar?
Denmark was a good ally. They sent troops to Iraq to back us up after Netanyahu lied to Congress about Iraq having WMDs. Too bad your retarded president has alienated them by threatening to seize their sovereign territory.
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026