Gabbard On Leaving Climate Change Out Of Threat Report: Only Focused On ‘Critical Direct Threats’

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Tuesday that climate change was not included in the Intelligence Community’s national threat assessment this year because she directed America’s intelligence apparatus to focus on the most serious and immediate threats that the country faces.

Gabbard made the remarks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing when Sen. Angus King (I-ME) asked why global climate change was no longer deemed a national security threat.

“Every single one of these reports that we have had has mentioned global climate change as a significant national security threat, except this one,” King said. “Has global climate change been solved? Why is that not in this report? And who made the decision that it should not be in the report when it’s been in every one of the 11 prior reports?”

Gabbard responded: “I can’t speak to the decisions made previously, but this annual threat assessment has been focused very directly on the threats that we deem most critical to the United States and our national security.”

“Obviously, we’re aware of occurrences within the environment and how they may impact operations, but we’re focused on the direct threats to Americans’ safety, well-being, and security,” she said.

“What I focused this annual threat assessment on and the IC focused this threat assessment on are the most extreme and critical direct threats to our national security,” she continued. “I gave direction to our team at ODNI to focus on the most extreme and critical national security threats that we face.”

WATCH:

WATCH: Sen. Angus King melts down over the fact that climate change has been taken out of the annual threat assessment by the intelligence community.@TulsiGabbard gives a dose of common sense: "This annual threat assessment has been focused very directly on the threats that we… pic.twitter.com/u8iIcmJ6Ct

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 25, 2025