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WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) – Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she was resigning from her job as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and she was leaving her role to help him.
Gabbard advised Trump of her intention to step down during an Oval Office meeting on Friday, Fox News Digital reported earlier. The resignation is effective June 30, it said.
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In her resignation letter posted on X, Gabbard told Trump she was “deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half.”
She cited her husband Abraham Williams’ recent diagnosis of bone cancer.
“I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming post,” she said.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas would become acting director. Lukas is a former CIA officer and analyst who served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term.