Tulsi Gabbard booted from Venezuela plans with aides joking DNI stands for 'do not invite' -- but Vance denies report

Source: The Independent

Tulsi Gabbard booted from Venezuela plans with aides joking DNI stands for ‘do not invite’ — but Vance denies report

National intelligence director spent years elevating an anti-interventionist agenda before joining Trump administration

Alex Woodward in New York
Thursday 08 January 2026 23:03 GMT

Donald Trump’s administration reportedly excluded intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard from months of planning to capture ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro because of her previous opposition to U.S. military involvement in the country.

White House aides even joked that her Director of National Intelligence title, or DNI, stood for “do not invite,” according to Bloomberg.

Vice President JD Vance said reports that Gabbard was kept out of the administration’s plans are “completely false.”

“We’re all part of the same team,” he told reporters at the White House Thursday. “We kept it very tight to the senior cabinet officials and related officials in our government, and we kept this operation secret for a very long time.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tulsi-gabbard-venezuela-dni-jd-vance-b2897184.html

Alternate link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/tulsi-gabbard-booted-venezuela-plans-230348712.html