Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard could be removed from the Trump administration sooner than expected. This raises new questions about her position in the White House as concerns about the administration’s Iran policy persist.
O’Reilly shared these thoughts during a Wednesday appearance on NewsNation. He stated that Gabbard has “lost all credibility” with President Donald Trump and would not stay in her role “much longer.”
He claimed she had little influence over how the administration managed Iran, asserting that CIA Director John Ratcliffe, not Gabbard, was key to that effort.
“I don’t particularly care about Tulsi Gabbard and whatever she’s doing. I know she has a title there, but I also know she was not involved with the Iranian situation at all. Ratcliffe and his CIA run that show,” O’Reilly said, according to The Daily Beast. He added, “Why she’s still there, I don’t know. She won’t be there much longer.”
Bill O’Reilly drops a stunning prediction about DNI Tulsi Gabbard:
“She won’t be there much longer.”
O’Reilly claims Gabbard is effectively sidelined, saying she has been excluded from key intel briefings due to her opposition to the Maduro raid.
O’REILLY: “I don’t… pic.twitter.com/IE1SWP5UhZ
— Overton (@overton_news) March 19, 2026
O’Reilly linked his prediction to the DNI director’s past opposition to U.S. intervention in Venezuela. He noted that her refusal to support the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro led to her losing all credibility with Trump. The Daily Beast reported that although Gabbard later praised Trump and the Pentagon after Maduro’s capture in January, she was reportedly excluded from the planning process.
These comments came as Gabbard faced new scrutiny over her testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 18. When asked if Iran posed an imminent nuclear threat before Trump authorized U.S. military action, the DNI chief declined to offer a direct intelligence assessment and instead deferred to the president. “The only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president, and he made that determination,” she said.
This hearing followed the resignation of Joe Kent, who had been Gabbard’s chief of staff and led the National Counterterrorism Center. According to the Associated Press, Kent stated in his resignation letter that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation.” Trump later dismissed Kent’s position, telling reporters, “It’s a good thing that he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat.”
Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the…
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) March 17, 2026
As speculation about Gabbard’s future increased, the White House publicly supported her. Reuters reported that press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on March 18 that Trump still had “full confidence” in Gabbard. Leavitt also mentioned that Kent had not participated in talks about the Iran operation, which the administration used to counter claims of a significant internal split regarding the military action.
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman turned Republican from Hawaii and Army Reserve officer, built part of her national profile on opposing regime-change wars and U.S. intervention abroad. This history has placed her in a tough political situation as she works to defend Trump’s Iran policy while facing criticism from anti-intervention supporters on the right who once viewed her as an ally.
At the time of writing this report, no move to remove Gabbard had been announced. However, O’Reilly’s remarks contributed to a week of public strain for one of Trump’s prominent intelligence officials, whose involvement in the administration’s national security decisions has recently drawn attention.
