President Trump announces via Truth Social, “Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Aaron Lukas, will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence” following the departure of DNI Tulsi Gabbard on June 30, 2026.
Aaron Lukas will do a solid job as ‘acting’ or as fully nominated and confirmed DNI.
There will likely be a great deal of rumor and speculation about a different permanent replacement. One name sure to surface within the discussion is Devin Nunes, but I strongly doubt the former Chairman of the HPSCI would desire or accept the position.
If, and that is a very big ‘if’, Devin Nunes was to accept the role, that would indicate a remarkable change in his opinion about the overall intelligence apparatus. Therefore, I doubt this is an option. Devin Nunes believes in the historic fidelity of the intelligence institutions. As a result, the DNI position has seemed smaller and less significant.
The only way Nunes would take the job is if two things changed. First, he now believed the construct of the United States intelligence apparatus is teetering on the edge of irreversible corruption (he did not previously hold this position); and second, if he sees that Tulsi has now proven the power of the DNI in the intelligence apparatus. As readers here will fully understand, until DNI Gabbard that power was never fully extended.
Former House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) member Elise Stefanik will likely be another name. She would have the full support of the Susie Wiles grouping. The same network who advocated for Mike Waltz to be National Security Advisor. However, Stefanik would greatly please Laura Loomer, Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro; while conversely providing fuel for Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly antagonisms.
Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn would likely be another name. This one strongly promoted by Q-adherents as evidence toward their Horoscope predictions and Q-anon ‘drops’ about Nunes stepping down from CEO of Truth Social as a 3-D chess maneuver, proactively planned to replace Gabbard [he did not].
Unfortunately, Flynn’s judgement is not stellar, and while he has been supportive of Mrs. Gabbard it’s not likely President Trump wants that kind of Flynn drama or the issues he brings with him for a nomination. That said, if the political calculation is to fuel the core base, Flynn might stand a chance at nomination. But don’t overthink it, Flynn would be of no value in the DNI position for anything of substance. Again, weak judgement (led to his former demise) and grifting tendencies.
Two other names of note: Scott Perry from Pennsylvania who was a target of the FBI/IC for his support of President Trump, and Rick Crawford the current Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a gang of eight member. The IC has nothing to fear from either of these names. They are essentially Mike Waltz clones, though to be fair I might be a little harsh on Perry.
Rick Crawford, as HPSCI Chairman, allowed Tulsi Gabbard to review the Atkinson transcript. Still, he didn’t act until Gabbard asked to see it and later pushed to declassify it. While he had the authority to handle it himself, like many congressional IC members in both the House and Senate, he seemed wary of challenging the very system they’re tasked with overseeing. [TIP: If whoever’s name it is currently falls under the IC oversight mechanism, they probably fear the “seven ways from Sunday” group, unlike Tulsi Gabbard. Accept this reality and adjust your perspective accordingly.]
GOPe types and “CONservative” influencers might also bring up Trey Gowdy or former HPSCI Chairman Mike Rogers. If either of these names show up, there’s a problem. And anyone advancing these names…. well, they’re the problem.
There’s no immediate need for any speculative guesswork. ADNI Aaron Lukas will do a solid job.
In the interim, we should expect DNI Gabbard to wrap up several aspects surrounding ongoing investigations and will likely make them all public prior to her departure, post haste.
Pray for Tulsi Gabbard and Abraham Williams!
She could always return after her husbands ordeal has ended.
Wonderful sentiment, however, Tulsi was targeted by the same people/apparatus that targeted PDJT with Russian Collusion Hoax machine. Hillary Clinton said that Tulsi was a Russian spy.
Jim Comey was just indicted/charged for his “86-47” seashells incident, and now Tulsi’s husband contracts a rare form of bone cancer. There are no coincidences.
There’s the Ivanka story. There are more Democrats and people inside the US government that want Ivanka/PDJT dead than members of the IRGC.
American enemies are much less foreign than they are domestic
Ok I see where you’re going with this but right now we need a ballroom and to make sure Israel is safe. There will be a time to take care of this stuff too.
Clearly the concept of diffusing responsibility and multitasking is lost on you.
True that
God Bless Tulsi and her family. 🙏🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸
I agree in the name of Jesus with this prayer. AMEN!
I wish Aaron a speedy recovery.
Reuters says Gabbard was “pushed out”. I’m no fan of Reuters, but it would not surprise me if that was true.
Look at how the administration treated Joe Kent, who was Gabbard’s chief of staff prior to his most recent position.
https://www.mediaite.com/media/reuters-reports-wh-forced-gabbard-to-resign-despite-her-citing-husbands-cancer-battle/
You need to be on point here and do a little more reading about your Mr Kent.
Good luck.
Enlighten me.
Where have you been is the question?
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/03/17/nctc-director-joe-kent-resigns-from-trump-administration-in-protest-to-iran-war/#more-281632
There are a few articles on Kent. Here is one.
Show me something outside the echo chamber.
From the man himself…
Foreign Influence | Joe Kent (TPC #2,051) (rumble.com)
😂 😂 😂
do your own research. You ask for someone else to do the work for you and then say you don’t like it. Joe Kent turned out to be a piece of shit. I can see why you like him.
Was Iran 2 weeks away from nukes when the war started? Please answer honestly.
It only takes two weeks to bring 60% uranium to 90%. Once that is established the material could be taken to dozens of unknown sites.
Where were they exactly, and how do you know?
For some reason Teheran was 2 weeks away from a massive drought requiting the evacuation of the entire city. Now why would that be the case, and now we no longer hear about their projected vast water shortage? Nothing to do with their unranium enrichment, now did it. Or did it.
As it turned out, Joe Kent was owned lock, stock.& barrel by the deep state IC. He was not on board Trumps directions to significantly reduce the size, scope & power of the IC. A mission Ms Gabbard has been surprisingly effective at.
I don’t believe that.
Hi Joe, I see you are posting under a fake name, just like, I’m guessing, one of your other hero’s—pierre delecto. 😂😂
Hee, hee …in pari delicto = unclean hands. That old Mittens guy was such a jokster.
Is it just me thinking this, but how likely is that Abraham was somehow “induced” to have this “rare” cancer?
It’s the “7 ways” showing what happens if you dig too deeply…
Was he Vaccinated?
My guess is yes.
I immediately thought that, as well.
No, it is not just you and it is and was my first thought. My gut says the 7 ways crowd did it and my gut is usually more often right than wrong, and we also know this has been done before, I believe in Russia. Who taught who how to do it is up for grabs.
Thune is unlikely to let anyone solid pass through, so Lukas is the likely stay until next year….
….. when, hopefully, Thune gets the boot.
I’m hoping Thune gets the boot sooner than that. Like, right after Paxton crushes Cornyn in the primary.
Excellent post, thank you.
Those are some scary names. Why not Steven Miller? He seems to create paranoid nonsensical comments from Dems and establishment types the same way Tulsi does.
Ric Grennel also.
He would never get approved. It’s unlikely any vocal flame throwers would regardless of whether they would be good at it.
I will say one thing. Tulsi’s departure leaves me more angry at the Uniparty scum than I have ever been. I understand that her husband’s health is the reason for her leaving, but it still focuses my anger at these sleazy, decrepit DC parasites. God forgive me, I want them all dead.
Don’t insult parasites
Praying for both during this time, that they are surrounded by the love of friends and family and health, praying for a healthy outcome.
This is a tough blow for the administration, losing its most effective cabinet member. I’m not sure there’s anyone on that list except maybe Flynn who could take on the Intelligence complex like Gabbard did, and as Sundance’s post says Flynn comes with a good deal of baggage. Let’s hope Lukas is up to the task.
Speculating here. Just suppose someone stronger than Aaron Lukas is needed, or he’s so good at the job and we don’t get the changes we need in the midterms, that he’d not get through confirmation. Maybe someone already approved for a job in the admin can make a lateral transfer and avoid the confirmation nonsense.
The thing is that even if Lukas is up to the task, and I hope he is, does he have the excellent communication skills of Tulsi?
Those skills are very important in combatting the DS.
I don’t think Tulsi got the support from the Trump Admn. That she should have. She was the best of the best. Ezra Cohen says she was pushed out.
How do you push someone out when their spouse is fighting bone cancer? Do you think they made up the cancer story?
Cohen is a idiot.
There is a lot of stockyard journalism going on here. Unfortunately so called conservative news sites like CFP picked up the story and ran it as well.
Whenever any news breaks we need to stand back for 24-48 hours and watch it settle. All this crap is purposely made up to divide the conservatives.
💯
What is CFP?
It might be Citizen Free Press . . .
I don’t think she was pushed but I don’t think she got the support she deserved. If she was moved any further away during the last couple of staff meetings she would have been at the kids basement table during thanksgiving.
I nominate Sundance. C’mon PDJT, make it happen!
I second your motion but don’t believe for a moment it would be allowed.
I like Flynn or Nunes if interim guy fails the test. Pray for Trump again for discernment. Tulsi would be good person for Trump to consult for her replacement.
It was just a matter of time…😁
“Marco Rubio is ready”…
Re “Marco Rubio is ready”…
Bad idea backed by worst ever attempt to combine images of two people into one. It does not resemble either and only succeeded in disrespecting both by creating a hideous looking image of a non-existant person.
Not to mention… as good as Rubio has proven to be at his job, he’s no Tulsi Gabbard when it comes to her job.
God Bless Tulsi and Abraham
Thank YOu for your Service
Perhaps it’s time (at least for me) to say this out loud. Considering all of the ‘theories’ of what the IC is supposed to be able to do, I take a moment to wonder at the source of Abraham Williams’ illness. And the timing of it. If trillions are at stake, as well as an entire global network, my ‘spidie sense’ is somewhat activated here. What better way, or at least an ‘unsuspicious way’ of removing Tulsi from the job she is doing? I imagine I’m not the only person who has wondered……
Very first thought I had…
My first thought as well.
Re “…my ‘spidie sense’ is somewhat activated here. What better way, or at least an ‘unsuspicious way’ of removing Tulsi from the job she is doing? I imagine I’m not the only person who has wondered……”
If your concern were truly worthy of your ‘spidie sense’ being activated over it at this time, I believe Sundance would have mentioned it.
My spidie sense first thought, war in any form is too unsettling for Tulsi – this has long been known, and accepted about her personal sensibilities. The Iran action, justified or not, must have en deeply and morally unsettling f or her.
Her lukewarm first statements about the Iran action demonstrated she was personally compromised but also honored her critical role and need for loyalty r in this administration. A finessed departure ight now was probably the best way to handle this. Nor is it a door slammed shut. She won us all over. God bless her for letting us get to know here and come to love her.
Very sorry to see, Tulsi Gabbard, leave this critical position. Best wishes… .
Tulsi has been doing a stellar job.
Any possibility that our IC folks did a ‘Georgi Markov’ on her husband to indue bone cancer and cause her resignation?
And, should his treatment prove successful, will she be back?
Amen
Devin Nunes would be good The DNI must not only operationalize the IC, but overhaul it with the DOW and other executive agency intell elements into a new proactive and predictive regionally focused construct with a new operational framework. I detail this is my book.
Correct note on Flynn. Second, the DNI needs to rewrite the majority of IC Directives which Clapper and Haines rewrote to diminish the DNI. Last for now, the IPPBE process must undertake a zero based review and the organization SRA and major issues studies done away with, as they were created to limit DNIs focus and actions. As one of the three primary architects of the IPPBE under Mike McConnell, Blair and Clapper and subsequently diminished DNI control as did DOD to protect stove pipes, I call them Titanium Cylinders of Sub-Excellence! Keep up great reporting!
Mike Flynn is a fraud.
Uh, would you mind supporting your contention?
I’m troubled by his shady lobbying for foreign interests.
“EXCLUSIVE: Strong indicators CIA was tracking DNI Gabbard team emerged months ago”
https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/2057596108600213515
I posted the Herridge link in another thread yesterday. Glad to see people are getting it out there. Very disturbing. I will post another link from GP that goes into even more detail.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/05/cia-accused-illegally-spying-tulsi-gabbard-interfering-dni/
You know there’s only one person, at this moment in time, that’s qualified for the job…Rubio
Re “You know there’s only one person, at this moment in time, that’s qualified for the job…Rubio”
Okay, since you went there (second guessing President Trump)… Please continue by letting us know why you think the president failed to turn Gabbard’s job over to Rubio. Then, since you seem to have appointed yourself to do President Trump’s thinking for him, let us know who you think President Trump should give Rubio’s current job to. And who gets that person’s job?
Just how many people have to be replaced by your logic? Why not simply do what President Trump did, presumably with Tulsi’s own input; i.e. just replace her with someone under her command who already has a working knowledge of what she has been doing?
Matthew Whitaker could fill the role of SoS.
This is my opinion, but apparently my opinion is verboten. 😂
Perhaps Marco Rubio would be a good fit in the job. I’m not sure.
What I am sure about is that he is doing so many jobs currently for this administration that replacing him in all of them would be an administrative nightmare.
How about retired Admiral Mike Rogers?
That would the preferred Rogers if I could make the choice.
God have mercy on the USA.
Prayers for her husband’s recovery and strength for her. Please Lord, wrap them in your loving arms.
Amanda Grace clip: Pray with Me for Tulsi and Her Husband Abraham – YouTube
Amen!
More theater to keep curious minds preoccupied for another moment.
This play is pretty shallow, as they go, but not much is needed – Monday is Memorial Day and Americans will be turning to the long-time favorite pastimes:
Shopping, and eating.
(George Carlin, but update to replace malls with internet shopping for unnecessary junk destined for landfills in a few years. )
And the official start of Summer, when pools open. As you gaze upon the pool goers, try not to think about what they would have looked like up until the 1980s when corpulence started to become the norm. (The Carlin skit addresses this too, indirectly.)
Sorry, I forgot how vulgar Carlin was. Be forewarned.
The full skit:
G-d bless Tulsi and her hubby. All I care about is that someone holds that position after being totally attacked by government like Tulsi.
That is why we hold those like Sundance in the highest order – we will never forget what the Machine did to this space in late 2020 and early 2021.
Digression: I consider myself informed, but am surprised at how little we actually know. Check this out about the Carribean:
https://nofilterjustfacts.substack.com/p/caribbean-language-debt
This whole thing stinks. I’m seeing a shift in PDJT’s focus away from why we elected him. I see his very loyal early supporters being picked off one at a time. The slowly dying yet loyal American middle class suffers from unfair confiscatory taxation, wage stagnation, and inflation. Add to that the diminishing competency of services to Americans, and diminishing quality of what you can buy today. This is a 3 front battle plus chaff few can win.
The swamp is alive and in control. If this continues it will cause more suffering and death. Both physically and emotionally.
There is only one solution:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chron 7:14
Why do you think the :”government” must save the middle class? The government needs to get out of the way to best serve the middle class.
Heard out there…
As of yesterday, Gabbard was working to declassify a FISA Court opinion that reportedly exposes ongoing abuse of Section 702 warrantless surveillance. The FISA Court found in March 2026 that problems the DOJ claimed to have fixed are still happening and extend beyond the FBI.
I hereby nominate Sundance for the position of ODNI…
How about Vladimir Putin? That would scare some asses out of their chairs!
There’s some truth to the viewpoint…but nothing is ever quite so simple.
For a multitude of reasons, she most definitely should not be the one…
Jim Erdman, the CIA whistleblower formerly with the DNI DIG would be a solid choice to rip it all open.
Having read another (trustworthy) source about Aaron Lukas, it appears that perhaps he will be to Tulsi Gabbard as Todd Blanch is to Pam Bondi……and that the work of Gabbard will continue in Lukas’ very good hands.
CIA Accused of Illegally Spying on Tulsi Gabbard and Interfering with DNI Investigations in Bombshell Report and Whistleblower Testimony
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/05/cia-accused-illegally-spying-tulsi-gabbard-interfering-dni/
What about Harriet Hageman of Wyoming?
Harriet Hageman is amazing
I love hat woman! Fearless.
Straight shooter no BS
Hangman is presidential
Great idea!
I don’t understand why Trump still listens to Susie her comments after were insulting to everyone including Trump, and she was wrong about everything. Plus no offense, why is she still there when she’s going through breast cancer? Trying to push Trump to more typical compromising republicans will never work.
I love Tulsi but lets not forget that she is anti interventionalist at a time when we are about to intervene. A new person at this time would have some benefits.
What about Ric? He’s gotta be a contender.
I nominate Alex Jones… ; )
Our IC rivals the CCP for nastiest organization on the planet.
Unfortunately both are run by the same overlords: the City of London banksters.
So Sundance, I appreciate the analysis. However, you clearly don’t seem fully confident in any of the names you mentioned in your article to be the next DNI. Given that are their any individuals who you would whole-heartedly endorse and who would continue the work of Ms Gabbard and welled the power of the DNI to completely reign in the IC community and its corrupt actors? I ask because I honestly believe that there is not a replacement for Ms Gabbard who can even stand in her shadow.
From an April 2026 CTH posting:
Former Representative Dan Bishop is a current U.S. Attorney in North Carolina, and he said it wasn’t fear that screwed up the subcommittee effort as it was republican political leadership stopping the subcommittee from aggressively investigating the whole matter, the big picture.
There is also an article in todays AT promoting Dan Bishop as a replacement DNI. Gives a bigger run down. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/05/the_perfect_replacement_for_tulsi_gabbard.html
So – any comments from the board on Dan Bishop? I am trying to learn/read more. But he sounds like an interesting candidate.
OGDuck