White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has full confidence in Director of the Office of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard.
Leavitt made the comments during an appearance on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom.
“He does, yes, and we look forward to watching the director’s hearings today,” she said when asked if Trump has full confidence in Gabbard, per Reuters.
Moments later, Leavitt spoke to reporters outside the West Wing, where a reporter asked if Gabbard’s job is in jeopardy.
“Not to my knowledge. I haven’t heard the president say that… So obviously that’s a question for him, but I haven’t heard him say that at all,” Leavitt said.
The comments come after Joe Kent stepped down from his position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Wednesday, claiming in his resignation letter that Iran did not pose an imminent threat and that Israel pressured the United States into the war.
The director of the National Counterterrorism Center reports to the DNI.
Leavitt, who said Tuesday that Kent’s resignation letter was full of “false claims,” also fielded questions on Kent during the gaggle.
One reporter asked why the president nominated Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center if the president thought he was “weak on security.”
“The president gave Joe Kent a chance. He thought he was a good guy with good military experience, and unfortunately, he proved he was not up for the job,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt mentioned falsehoods Kent stated in his letter of resignation, and said that intelligence backs up that his claims are wrong. Kent said in the letter that Iran does not pose an imminent threat to the United States’ national security.
“It’s backed by intelligence. It’s backed by the fact that Iran was building ballistic missiles at a rapid rate to build a shield of immunity so they could build a nuclear bomb,” Leavitt said.
“And it’s backed by the fact that the president of the United States made the decision to attack Iran before they could attack American troops and our assets and bases in the region,” she added.
