Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Congress that only President Trump can determine what constitutes an 'imminent' threat from Iran, effectively ceding a core intelligence function to the White House. Her testimony came after her close aide Joe Kent resigned, citing opposition to the Iran war and claiming Tehran posed no immediate danger to U.S. interests.

During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Gabbard faced pointed questions from Senator Jon Ossoff about whether Iran presented a nuclear threat. She maintained that assessing threats wasn't the intelligence community's role, contradicting standard practice at agencies like the National Intelligence University. CIA Director John Ratcliffe took a different approach, stating Iran had been 'a constant threat' and was destabilized by prior administration policies.

Gabbard's comments highlighted growing tensions between intelligence assessments and presidential authority. Her testimony revealed discrepancies between oral statements and written submissions, with Senator Mark Warner noting she omitted information contradicting Trump's position. The hearing exposed how intelligence reporting has shifted under the current administration, with traditional threat priorities like climate change and public health absent from this year's assessment, which now emphasizes border security and homeland defense.