Tulsi Gabbard, the newly sworn-in director of national intelligence, delivered her first speech in her new role on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, promising that President Trump’s America First agenda did not mean “America alone.”
“We recognize that a strong America is better positioned to lead, work with and support our allies and partners around our shared interests of peace, security and prosperity,” Ms. Gabbard said.
During her confirmation process, Democrats raised questions about Ms. Gabbard’s past supportive comments on Russia and whether allies would trust her enough to share classified information. Ms. Gabbard’s defenders dismissed those criticisms, but the remarks Friday appeared to be aimed at reassuring allies who might have doubts about the new intelligence chief after her bruising confirmation fight.
Speaking at the conference, an annual gathering of diplomats and security officials in Munich, Ms. Gabbard suggested that, under her leadership, the U.S. would continue to share intelligence with partners and allies to confront threats.
Under the Biden administration, much of that intelligence cooperation has been focused on supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. Ms. Gabbard did not address that directly but said the challenge posed by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea demanded “a united front to advance the cause of peace, freedom, and prosperity.”
“To deter aggression and maintain stability, we look forward to working closely with those who share those interests,” she said.
Ms. Gabbard’s remarks were closed to the news media but a copy of them was provided by her office.
Ms. Gabbard offered few details of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy plans, but she said the new administration had already made clear its priorities: ending the war in Ukraine, fighting terrorism, fighting fentanyl proliferation and “overhauling the international trade system.”
Mr. Trump has not talked much about terrorism, but it has long been a focus of Ms. Gabbard’s foreign policy. In her remarks, Ms. Gabbard said that confronting terror threats requires a “coordinated global response” involving intelligence sharing and cooperation to cut off funding to terror groups.
“We must disrupt and destroy terrorist organizations by targeting their ideology, leadership, command structures and financial networks,” she said.
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