President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard ignored a question about Bashar al-Assad in the background of the collapse of his rule in Syria and said she supports what Trump said about Syria. “I want to address the issue that’s in the headlines right now: I stand in full support and wholeheartedly agree with the statements that President Trump has made over these last few days with regards to the developments in Syria,” Gabbard said exiting a Senate meeting, without mentioning Assad. She said her views were shaped by her multiple deployments and seeing firsthand the cost of war and the threat of Islamist terrorism.
“It’s one of the many reasons why I appreciate President Trump’s leadership and his election, where he is fully committed, as he has said over and over, to bring about an end to wars.”
In 2017, Tulsi Gabbard went to Syria and met Assad when the US already severed diplomatic relations with Syria. Gabbard, then a Democrat leader, defended her trip and said it was important to open dialogue.
Tulsi Gabbard is one of the controversial picks of Trump awaiting Senate confirmation before becoming the intelligence chief. Last week, nearly 100 former officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations wrote a letter to Senate leaders that they were alarmed by the choice of Gabbard who will oversee all 18 US intelligence agencies. They questioned her past actions and said her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President and Congress is doubtful.
What Trump said on Syria
Donald Trump said whatever is happening in Syria is not America’s fight and US military should stay out of it. Trump said Assad did not deserve US support to stay in power after his government collapsed and Assad left the country.
The US has about 900 troops in Syria, including US forces working with Kurdish allies in the opposition-held northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group.