Hawaii government leaders and political observers expressed surprise, praise, pride and a bit of ridicule about longtime local public servant Tulsi Gabbard being picked by Republican President-elect Donald Trump to be the next director of national intelligence.
Gabbard, who represented parts of Hawaii as a Democrat in the state Legislature and in Congress before heaping criticism on and leaving the party in 2022, was announced as Trump’s nominee for the Cabinet-level job Wednesday after helping Trump win the recent presidential election.
Honolulu City Council member Esther Kia‘aina, who was assistant secretary for insular areas at the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama, said she was pleasantly surprised by where Gabbard landed.
“As a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, former Congressional Member on the House Armed Services Committee, and a Pacific Islander, Tulsi Gabbard is well-suited to align our national intelligence resources with the threats we face within the continental United States, within the Indo-Pacific region, and internationally,” Kia‘aina said in a statement.
Kia‘aina, who along with former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann lost to Gabbard in 2012 for a U.S. House of Representatives seat, also said she believes Gabbard will ably represent Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and the country in her position, which is subject to Senate confirmation.
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State Rep. Gene Ward (R, Hawaii Kai-Kalama Valley) expects Gabbard to bring somewhat of a watchdog role to the job, the duties for which include briefing the president daily on national intelligence as the leader of a coalition of 18 federal organizations that include the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“It’s going to be an interesting future for her and for those agencies because she’s a no-nonsense, give-me-the-facts (person),” Ward said. “Go girl, go.”
Local attorney Ernie Martin, who formerly served on the Honolulu City Council with Gabbard and in 2018 ran for a U.S. House seat as a Democrat, said in an email, “It comes as no surprise to me that Tulsi has advanced to this position given her political aptitude, ambition and affinity for our state and country. I wish her well as the Director of National Intelligence.”
Tamara McKay, state chair of Hawaii’s Republican Party, called Gabbard’s nomination fantastic.
“Her roots being back here, her changing parties and being involved on the Trump campaign I think will help bring some attention to our state, and hopefully that will drive us in a better direction with our local economy,” McKay said.
Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, said in a statement that he hopes Gabbard, whom he has known for a very long time, “can bring some Aloha to the new administration. This is going to be an era that truly tests humanity and our willingness to treat vulnerable people with compassion.”
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) criticized Trump for the pick.
“Along with many of the nominations Donald Trump has announced thus far, the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead our nation’s Intelligence Community reflects how unseriously the President-elect is treating positions of critical importance and trust,” Hirono said in a statement “With each new nomination, Trump is making even more clear that the only thing he’s serious about is running our country into the ground.”
University of Hawaii at Manoa political scientist Colin Moore said he was surprised by Gabbard being named to the job because she doesn’t have senior-level national intelligence experience.
Moore expects that Gabbard may have difficulty obtaining confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate over experience, policy positions and past activities that include meeting with accused war criminal and Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017 while a member of the U.S. House.
However, Moore also said Gabbard represents someone who aligns with Trump’s views on foreign policy and is being rewarded for her help during the election.
“It certainly aligns with Trump’s America-first vision of U.S. foreign policy,” Moore said. “Gabbard is very well known for her non-interventionist foreign policy views. She’s been a deep critic of the U.S. foreign policy establishment that includes the intelligence community. This certainly signals a major shake-up that Trump promised.”
Moore said he believed Trump would give Gabbard a job in his administration, but more along the lines of something like leader of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Gabbard is a veteran who served in the Hawaii Army National Guard from 2003 to 2020 and currently is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Born in American Samoa, Gabbard was first elected to office in 2002 when she successfully ran to represent parts of Leeward Oahu including Waipahu, Honouliuli and Ewa in the state House.
Gabbard, a 21-year-old martial arts instructor at the time, became the youngest person elected to Hawaii’s Legislature.
In 2004, Gabbard was prohibited from continuing to serve as a lawmaker because of Hawai’i National Guard rules that said an active-duty member can’t hold office. Gabbard had enlisted in the Guard in 2023 and a year later volunteered for active-duty deployment in a unit providing medical support for the 29th Separate Infantry Brigade.
Gabbard deployed to Iraq in 2004 and to Kuwait in 2008.
In 2011, Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council representing downtown Honolulu, Alewa Heights, Kalihi Valley, and portions of Makiki and Kalihi. She resigned in 2012 to run for a U.S. House seat, which she won. She served four terms in Congress representing rural Oahu and the neighbor islands from 2013 to 2021.
Gabbard opted not to run for a fifth term, and instead competed in 2020 to become the Democratic Party nominee for president.
During her presidential bid that failed to get much traction, Gabbard apologized for her work for an anti-gay advocacy group founded by her father, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, that helped pass a state constitutional amendment giving the Legislature the power to ban same-sex marriages prior to her becoming a state lawmaker.
Retired University of Hawaii political science professor Neal Milner said he was surprised that Gabbard received such a high-level job in Trump’s administration.
“She speaks a lot about national intelligence issues. I don’t think she has much experience doing that kind of deep intelligence work,” he said.
Gabbard’s father, state Sen. Mike Gabbard (D, Kapolei-Makakilo-Kalaeloa), said he is proud of his daughter and has confidence that she will do an excellent job because she has a sincere desire to serve the state and the nation.
“Ever since she was a kid, her sense of happiness has been service to ke akua (God) and to others,” he said. “I think she’s well-suited for the position, and I’m confident she’ll do a great job.”
