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Will Saletan
Hey, it's Will Salatan from the Bulwark. You know, it's a tough call trying to figure out who's the biggest liar in the Trump administration. But now that we're in the middle of another bombing campaign in Iran, I can tell you who's the biggest sellout in the administration. The person who claims to have deep principles about war and peace, but when it matters, she just walks away. And then she lies to you about it. And that person is Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence. Today, I'm going to show you just how empty she really is. So let me take you back seven years. It was 2019, and Gabbard was a congresswoman from Hawaii. She was a Democrat, and she was running for president. And here's what she said when she announced that she was running.
Tulsi Gabbard
President Trump campaigned against regime change wars when he ran for president, but now he bows to the wishes of the neocons who surround him, clamoring for regime change wars that he claimed to oppose. This time in Venezuela and in Iran.
Will Saletan
Venezuela and Iran again, that video is not from this year. That was seven years ago. In Trump's first term, Gabbard was pointing out that when Trump ran for president the first time, he promised not to wage regime change wars. And two years into that term, it was already clear that he had lied. Gabbard knew he had lied. And the countries he lied about specifically were Venezuela and Iran. And just before she gave that speech, Gabbard posted this tweet about John Bolton. Quote, it's about the oil again. Bolton just exposed the real motive for intervention in Venezuela. And then she quoted Bolton. He said, speaking for the Trump administration, he said, well, we're in a conversation with Major American companies. Bolton said the plan was to have American companies extract the oil in Venezuela. So Gabbard specifically complained that the Trump administration was threatening military action in Venezuela to get oil, to get American companies into Venezuela to get the oil. Again, this is not 2026. This is 2019. And then a few months later in 2019, Gabbard warned that Trump was moving toward attacking Iran. And she said it would be a catastrophic mistake.
Tulsi Gabbard
So when we talk about a potential war with Iran, which is looking like we are walking very dangerously down that path, what I think is important for the American people to know is that a war with Iran would make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk. The devastation and the cost would be far greater than anything we've ever experienced.
Will Saletan
And she pointed out again that Trump was saying one thing, but doing another.
Tulsi Gabbard
What's concerning to me is that while Trump and others in his administration are saying that they don't want to go to war with Iran, when in fact, the actions that the administration has been taking are telling us another story, that it's actually pushing us closer and closer to the prospect of a war with Iran. This is what I'm very concerned about.
Will Saletan
Then Trump did it. In January of 2020, a few months after Gabbard issued that warning, Trump ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Iran's most important military commander. American forces killed Soleimani, and Gabbard went off. The next day, she went on Fox News and she said Trump had betrayed his promise to stay out of wars.
Tulsi Gabbard
Trump talked a lot in his campaign
for the presidency and even since he's
been in about how he wants to end forever wars, but his actions tell a different story. All of these actions pushing us closer and closer to this war with Iran. And this step that he just took last night seriously, seriously escalated the situation.
Will Saletan
And after she gave that interview, Gabbard posted this message. She accused Trump of escalating a regime change war against Iran. And then she added this quote to all who voted for Trump because of his anti war rhetoric. It's time to realize he lied to you. He lied to you. That's what she said. And then she decided to forget all about it. So that was 2020. Trump lost the election, and Gabbard gave up her seat in Congress to run for president, which obviously didn't work out. But then in 2024, Trump came back. He won the Republican nomination for president. And In August of 2024, guess who went on stage to endorse Trump? Tulsi Gabbard. So I'm going to show you what she said when she endorsed him. But before I do, I want you to take a couple of deep breaths because this is just unbelievable.
Tulsi Gabbard
So I mean what I say when I share with you that I know that President Trump understands the grave responsibility that a president and commander in chief bears. We saw this through his first term in the presidency when he not only didn't start any new wars, he took action to de escalate and prevent wars.
Will Saletan
Yeah, she actually said that. Four years after she admitted that Trump betrayed his promises and attacked other countries. Four years after she said it's time to realize he lied to you, she turned around and repeated his lies and she explained why she was endorsing him.
Tulsi Gabbard
Because I am confident that his first task will be to do the work, to walk us back from the brink of war.
Will Saletan
Oh, yeah, this guy who lied to you last time. I promise he's not lying this time. And then Gabbard did several more speeches and rallies with the same message. She just erased everything she said before and she pretended, she pretended that Trump was totally on the level. Here she is at a Trump rally in North Carolina in October of 2024.
Tulsi Gabbard
President Trump has pledged to end wars, not start them. And a vote for President Trump is a vote for peace here in America and around the world.
Will Saletan
And here she is at Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden.
Tulsi Gabbard
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for a man who wants to end wars, not start them,
and who
demonstrated already that he has the courage and strength to stand up and fight for peace.
Will Saletan
Just absolutely shameless.
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Will Saletan
Gabbard sold out everything she ever said about Trump and his record of lying about staying out of wars. She added her lies to his lies, and it worked. This time, Trump won the election, and he rewarded Gabbard by making her the Director of National Intelligence. And he went right back to planning more bombings and invasions in the same countries he lied about before. The first one was Iran. So last year, in June, Trump bombed Iran's nuclear sites. And the White House posted this picture of Gabbard in the Situation Room during the attack. And you can see right above the picture, they tagged Gabbard just to let everyone know she was on board with the attack. Did Gabbard renounce the bombing? Did she resign? Did she apologize for having told everybody that Trump was a man of peace? No, no, she actually put out a statement claiming that Trump was a man of peace because after he did the bombing, he offered Iran a ceasefire. Here's what she wrote. Quote, only President Trump could have achieved this historic ceasefire agreement that brings us closer to peace. See, if you bomb somebody and then you finish the bombing, you stop it, you're bringing the world closer to peace. And then two days later, she put out this. The operation was a resounding success. Our missiles were delivered precisely and accurately, obliterating key Iranian capabilities. Obliterating. Just like Trump said, he's a man of peace, but he's also a man of obliteration. And then in November, Gabbard went to a conference in Bahrain, right next to Iran, and she gave a speech praising Trump again for pursuing peace and abstaining from regime change.
Tulsi Gabbard
For decades, our foreign policy has been trapped in a counterproductive and endless cycle of regime change or nation building. And now, just nine months into his second term, President Trump's America first agenda is supercharging these efforts and securing peace on a scale that we haven't seen in decades. He secured ceasefires between India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran.
Will Saletan
Iran. There she goes again. Trump literally bombed Iran. But Gabbard again ignored that and bragged that after the bombing, Trump secured a ceasefire with Iran. So that was November, two months after Gabbard said that Trump attacked Venezuela. American forces went into Venezuela, killed A whole bunch of soldiers and some civilians, and kidnapped the Venezuelan dictator, which you might call a regime change. But Trump didn't stop there. He threatened a second attack. And he demanded access to Venezuela's oil.
Donald Trump
We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.
Will Saletan
So basically, this was a revenue sharing operation imposed on Venezuela at gunpoint. Here's what Trump demanded from Venezuela's new acting president, Delsey Rodriguez.
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What do you need from Delsey Rodriguez?
Donald Trump
You've threatened total access. We need total access. We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.
Will Saletan
So this was an exact replay of what Gabbard had condemned when Trump's national security advisor floated the same idea back in 2019. Remember what she quoted? We're in conversation with major American companies. We'll have American companies produce the oil in Venezuela. Gabbard put those quotes in her tweet in 2019. She acted like that was outrageous. But now, now she has nothing to say. Here's what she posted in January, two days after Trump attacked Venezuela, and talked about sending in American oil companies. Again, she praised the military operation, and she said Trump was delivering on his promise to protect America. Then Trump went after Denmark, an American ally. He suggested that the United States might use military force to take Greenland if Denmark didn't hand it over. And Gabbard had nothing to say about that either. In fact, the only thing she's done about Greenland, according to this report in the Wall Street Journal, is she has used our intelligence agencies to help Trump figure out how to get Greenland. So that brings us to this week. On Friday, Trump went to Texas and he stood next to a ship that was filled with Venezuelan oil. Oil that Venezuela gave us after we decapitated their government and threatened to hit them again. Here's what Trump said about the oil.
Donald Trump
80 million barrels of oil. Think of what that means. Think of a stadium with 80,000 people. Now say 80 million. That's what we've taken. And it's great for Venezuela, it's great for us.
Will Saletan
There it is. We've taken their oil. Exactly. Exactly what Gabbard warned about in 2019. And there's our president bragging about it while Gabbard says nothing. And then just hours after Trump said that, he launched another bombing campaign in Iran. And this time, this time it's not just the nuclear sites. This time he's trying to take down their whole government. Here's what he told the people of Iran in a video announcing the operation.
Donald Trump
Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.
Will Saletan
In other words, regime change. This is a regime change war. And once again, the White House has posted a picture of Gabbard in the Situation Room during the attack. You can see her right there on the left next to JD Vance. Look, this administration is full of liars, but there's nobody, nobody quite like Tulsi Gabbard. She told everybody years ago that Trump lied. She said he pretended. He pretended to be a man of peace and instead he brought war. She said all of that seven years ago. And then she turned around and peddled the same lies, the same lies he told about who he was and what he would do. And now he's doing it again. And she sits there and defends it and lies about it again. Because that's who she is. Tulsi Gabbard believes in what she has always, always believed in. Absolutely nothing.
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Bulwark Takes: "Tulsi Gabbard Believes in Nothing" (March 3, 2026) – Episode Summary
In this searing episode of Bulwark Takes, Will Saletan delivers an unsparing critique of Tulsi Gabbard, currently the Director of National Intelligence under President Trump’s second term. Saletan accuses Gabbard of profound hypocrisy—a complete abandonment of her earlier anti-interventionist stance in favor of endorsing and facilitating Trump’s aggressive military actions. Through a chronological examination of Gabbard’s statements and actions from 2019 to 2026, the episode aims to expose what Saletan calls Gabbard's “emptiness” and unwillingness to stand by her previously stated principles.
Initial Criticisms of Trump’s Foreign Policy
“President Trump campaigned against regime change wars ... now he bows to the wishes of the neocons who surround him, clamoring for regime change wars that he claimed to oppose. This time in Venezuela and in Iran.” — Tulsi Gabbard, 2019
Warnings About War with Iran
Gabbard issued dire warnings that war with Iran would "make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk."
Quote (03:26):
“A war with Iran would make the war in Iraq look like a cakewalk. The devastation and the cost would be far greater than anything we've ever experienced.” — Tulsi Gabbard, 2019
She accused Trump of actions “pushing us closer and closer to the prospect of a war with Iran,” despite his assurances otherwise.
After the U.S. assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020, she said Trump had seriously “escalated the situation” and betrayed anti-war promises.
Denounces Trump’s Betrayal
“To all who voted for Trump because of his anti-war rhetoric. It’s time to realize he lied to you. He lied to you.” — Tulsi Gabbard, 2020
Dramatic U-Turn
After leaving Congress and failing in her own presidential run, Gabbard endorsed Trump upon his 2024 Republican nomination.
Quote (06:06):
“I know that President Trump understands the grave responsibility ... When he not only didn't start any new wars, he took action to deescalate and prevent wars.” — Tulsi Gabbard, August 2024
Saletan highlights the stunning reversal: Gabbard now recites the same anti-war claims she previously debunked.
She campaigns for Trump, repeatedly calling him “a man of peace.”
Quote (07:22):
“President Trump has pledged to end wars, not start them. And a vote for President Trump is a vote for peace...” — Tulsi Gabbard, Trump Rally North Carolina, Oct 2024
Saletan’s Reaction:
"Just absolutely shameless." — Will Saletan
Supporting Trump’s Military Actions
As DNI, Gabbard not only fails to oppose aggressive actions taken by Trump—she actively promotes the narrative that these represent “peace.”
June 2025: Trump bombs Iran’s nuclear sites; Gabbard is photographed in the Situation Room.
Gabbard issues a statement:
Quote (10:32):
“Only President Trump could have achieved this historic ceasefire agreement that brings us closer to peace.”
She later praises military operations as “a resounding success,” boasting of “obliterating key Iranian capabilities.”
November 2025: In Bahrain, Gabbard claims Trump is “securing peace on a scale that we haven't seen in decades,” glossing over the reality of recent bombings.
“Now, just nine months into his second term, President Trump’s America First agenda is supercharging these efforts and securing peace on a scale that we haven't seen in decades. He secured ceasefires between India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran.” — Tulsi Gabbard, Bahrain Conference
Venezuela Operation Revisited
Quote (12:34):
“We're going to have our very large United States oil companies ... start making money for the country.” — Donald Trump, 2026
Gabbard remains silent, then later praises the operation and asserts Trump is “delivering on his promise to protect America.”
Greenland Incident
Trump brags about “taking” Venezuelan oil after regime change, Gabbard remains mute.
“80 million barrels of oil. ... That’s what we’ve taken. And it’s great for Venezuela, it’s great for us.” — Donald Trump, Texas
Hours later, Trump launches another bombing campaign in Iran, openly calling for regime change.
“Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.” — Donald Trump
White House releases images of Gabbard present in the Situation Room during the strikes.
"Look, this administration is full of liars, but there’s nobody, nobody quite like Tulsi Gabbard. ... She said all of that seven years ago. And then she turned around and peddled the same lies, the same lies he told about who he was and what he would do. ... Tulsi Gabbard believes in what she has always, always believed in. Absolutely nothing." — Will Saletan (16:59)
This episode is essential listening for anyone tracking the evolution (or perceived devolution) of political figures’ stated principles and the realities of American power in the Trump-Gabbard era. Saletan’s methodical juxtaposition of Gabbard’s past and present words serves as a case study in political opportunism and the malleability of rhetoric in service of power.