Donald Trump's director of National Intelligence posted graphic footage depicting nuclear fallout on her personal Twitter account.
Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence, published a video on Tuesday warning humanity is 'closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before,' which she blamed on 'political elites and warmongers.
'In her video, posted on X, formerly Twitter, Gabbard said that modern nuclear weapons could 'kill millions in just minutes' while a resulting nuclear winter could block out the sun, 'plunging the world into darkness and cold, killing crops and starving billions.'Newsweek reached out to the United States Intelligence Community for comment on Wednesday via telephone outside of regular office hours.Why It MattersAs director of national intelligence, Gabbard has oversight over all of America's IC agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency , making her warning and the graphic language deployed hard to ignore.The comments come against the backdrop of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which has seen the Kremlin issue a number of nuclear threats, and tension between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, trade and the South China Sea.What To KnowGabbard shared her video on her personal X account, rather than the one she has as director of National Intelligence, suggesting she was making private comments rather than representing the administration.In the three-minute 30-second video, Gabbard said: 'As we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elites and warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers.'Perhaps it's because they are confident that they will have access to nuclear shelters for themselves and for their families that regular people won't have access to. So it's up to us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness.'Gabbard began by describing a recent visit to Hiroshima, one of two Japanese cities hit with nuclear weapons by the United States in 1945.She said: 'This attack obliterated the city, killed over 300,000 people, many dying instantly while other died from severe burns, injuries, radiation sickness and cancer that set in in the following months and years.'Gabbard said that modern nuclear weapons can be substantially more powerful than the ones deployed on Hiroshima and said they could 'kill millions in minutes' before sparking a nuclear winter 'with smoke and ash completely blocking the sun, plunging the world into darkness and cold, killing crops and starving billions.'While Gabbard didn't mention any country by name, her warning came against the backdrop of tensions between the U.S. and Russia over the war in Ukraine, with a bipartisan group in the Senate reportedly pushing for tougher sanctions on Moscow.Before joining the Trump administration, Gabbard had been accused of spreading Russian state propaganda, which she vehemently denies, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton labeling her a 'Russian asset.'She previously stated that then-Vice President Kamala Harris was the 'main instigator' of the Ukraine war and said the assassination of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020 during Trump's first term was in violation of the U.S. Constitution.What People Are SayingDirector of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in her video: 'I recently visited Hiroshima in Japan and stood at the epicenter of a city that remains scarred by the unimaginable horror caused by a single nuclear bomb dropped in 1945, 80 years ago. It's hard for me to find the words to express what I saw, the stories that I heard, the haunting sadness that still remains. This is an experience that will stay with me forever.'Ron Pilipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, shared Gabbard's video on X, adding: 'Tulsi Gabbard repeats Putin's talking points today, releasing an unhinged video where she claims that 'political elites' want a nuclear war with Russia because they have sophisticated bomb shelters that will help them survive it.'Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Hudson Institute, also shared the video on X: 'It was good and necessary that the US dropped the bomb. We should not apologize.'What Happens NextIt remains to be seen whether Gabbard will repeat her claims in an official capacity.Tensions between the U.S. and both China and Russia are likely to remain high over the coming years with Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly vowed to bring Taiwan under his government's control.Update 6/11/25, 9:57 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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