White House froze out intel chief over doubts on Venezuela regime change

The White House quietly sidelined Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard from deliberations over removing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a snub that sources say stemmed from lingering mistrust of her long-standing opposition to U.S. military intervention. According to Bloomberg, her exclusion was so routine that aides joked her title stood for “Do Not Invite,” underscoring how out of step she was with hawks driving the plan. While Gabbard later praised the operation’s execution and echoed Trump administration talking points, intelligence veterans called it highly unusual for a DNI to be cut out of such talks. The episode exposes deep internal fractures as Trump barrels ahead with aggressive foreign policy moves while marginalizing officials wary of another regime-change debacle.

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