Tulsi Gabbard resigned Friday as President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, effective June 30, citing her husband's recent diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer. In her resignation letter posted on social media, Gabbard said she needed to step away from public service to support her husband Abraham through his battle with the illness.

Trump announced the resignation on social media, saying "Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her." He named Aaron Lukas, her principal deputy, as acting director. However, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the White House forced Gabbard to resign, contradicting the official narrative of a voluntary departure for personal reasons.

Gabbard's tenure as intelligence chief was marked by tensions with the administration, particularly over Iran policy. During recent congressional hearings, she testified that U.S. strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program with no subsequent rebuilding efforts, contradicting Trump's assertions about imminent threats from Iran. She repeatedly told lawmakers that determining imminent threats was not the intelligence community's responsibility but rather the president's decision.

The former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii had been a controversial choice to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies. A military veteran without intelligence experience, she built her political career opposing foreign wars before leaving the Democratic Party in 2022 and later endorsing Trump.

Gabbard becomes the fourth Cabinet official to leave during Trump's second term, following departures by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Her resignation comes amid what sources describe as her being largely sidelined from her role as the administration pursued military operations in Venezuela and Iran.