U S President-elect Donald Trump chose loyalists with little experience for several key cabinet positions on Wednesday. This has shocked some allies and made clear that he is serious about reshaping—and in some cases testing—America's institutions. The President-elect also is appointing unfailingly loyal people who are unlikely to push back against his most controversial orders, analysts said.
In this regard, Donald Trump has named Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. The former Democratic congresswoman-turned-Trump-ally has in the past spoken out against military intervention in the civil war in Syria under former American President Barack Obama and implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine, America's ally.
"I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community, championing our constitutional rights and securing peace through strength," Trump said in a statement.
Gabbard has little direct experience with intelligence work and had not been widely expected to be tapped for the post, which oversees 18 spy agencies. She was deployed in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 as a major in the Hawaii National Guard and is now a lieutenant colonel in the U S Army Reserves.