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Trump Doesn't Trust Gabbard

Donald Trump picked Tulsi Gabbard (whose views on U.S. foreign policies mirror Vladimir Putin's so much that some people, including Hillary Clinton, believe she is at best a "useful idiot" and at worst a Russian asset) as DNI. Now his decision is coming back to bite him in the rear end.

He desperately needed to know how far along Iran is in building a nuclear bomb since that could determine whether to take out Iran's nuclear facility buried deep in a mountain in Fordo, Iran, 100 miles south of Tehran. But Trump actually knows that he can't trust her. His nomination was undoubtedly intended as a show of dominance to force all the Republican senators to vote for a nominee they all very well knew was completely unfit for the job. Now he is stuck with a DNI who is incompetent and possibly not even loyal to the United States and who he can't trust with a possible war on the horizon.

What must be especially galling for Gabbard is that he has now dismissed her assessments of Iran's nuclear capability in public—twice. First, he said: "She's wrong." Then he said: "I don't care what she says." He is especially upset with her for posting a video blaming the "political elite and warmongers" for the conflict in Iran. This is a straightforward Russian talking point. Here is an excerpt from her video. The "warmongers" comment is at the 0:25 mark:



In effect, Gabbard is blaming Trump for the war between Israel and Iran. He has to hope the Nobel Peace Prize Committee doesn't see the video. He was not amused.

Trump spoke to Gabbard and told her to her face that he believed that she was using her position to set herself up for higher office and that if she wanted to be president, she should not be in his administration. Did he follow up with the phase he used on his reality TV show: "You're fired!"? Nope. TACO time in the Oval Office. However, Trump is spending more time talking to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who is an intelligence professional and was DNI in Trump v1.0. If Trump had any guts, he would have already dumped Gabbard and replaced her with Ratcliffe. Or, failing that, Bozo the Clown. Either would be an upgrade, at this point. (V)



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