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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard commented on President Donald Trump’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro for the first time on Tuesday, sharing her “kudos” with the U.S. military for its “flawless” execution of Trump’s plan.
And her positivity stands out, considering Gabbard warned in 2019 it would be a “disaster” for the military to attack Venezuela. That comment was made when she was still a progressive Democrat, but now that she is on the Trump Train — and no Americans died in the operation — she seems to have no problem with it.
Here’s what she had to say on Tuesday in her X post on the operation:
President Trump promised the American people he would secure our borders, confront narcoterrorism, dangerous drug cartels, and drug traffickers. Kudos to our servicemen and women and intelligence operators for their flawless execution of President Trump’s order to deliver on his promise thru Operation Absolute Resolve.
As Mediaite’s Willa Pope Robbins noted on Saturday, Gabbard slammed the first Trump administration for “increased saber rattling and tensions” with Venezuela.
“Pushing for this civil war, pushing for the use of military force, will only end up with more suffering and death and disaster for the Venezuelan people,” she said on Fox News in 2019.
More recently, she praised Trump at a conference in October for avoiding foreign conflicts.
“The old Washington way of thinking is something we hope is in the rear-view mirror and something that has held us back for too long,” said Gabbard. “For decades, our foreign policy has been trapped in a counterproductive and endless cycle of regime change or nation-building. It was a one-size-fits-all approach of toppling regimes, trying to impose our system of governance on others, intervening in conflicts that were barely understood, and walking away with more enemies than allies.”
Many MAGA critics have said Trump broke his campaign promise of “no new wars” with his capture of Maduro. And House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) pushed back on claims it was a “regime change” on Monday, since Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as the interim president.
Trump told reporters on Saturday the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for the time being.
