Donald Trump never loses the ability to astonish. Many people will have breathed a sigh of relief last month when the United States Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, announced that she was stepping down at the end of June. The former Democratic congresswoman for Hawaii’s 2nd district had tacked dramatically to the right after a dismal but controversial bid for the party’s presidential nomination and threw in her lot with Donald Trump. The reward was to be nominated to his cabinet in November 2024.

The post of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was established by George W. Bush in 2005 to be the executive head of the US intelligence community, a collection of 18 organisations, including the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency. The DNI is also the principal adviser on intelligence matters to the President, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council, and oversees the production of the President’s daily brief.

What Trump demands, and what seems to satisfy him on a primal level, is loyalty

What Trump demands, and what seems to satisfy him on a primal level, is loyalty

Gabbard was a controversial nominee. Trump cited her military record – she enlisted in the National Guard and is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, having served in the Military Police and civil affairs, but had no specific intelligence or national security experience. She did, however, seemingly have a tendency to absorb and amplify the narratives peddled by........

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