Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is standing by the decision to leave climate change out of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s annual threat assessment, saying the report is meant to prioritize urgent, immediate dangers to national security, not speculative or long-term concerns.
The move marks a sharp departure from past administrations, which regularly included climate change in intelligence reports as a “strategic risk.” Gabbard’s directive signals a clear shift toward real-world, actionable threats facing the United States right now.
Gabbard: “Direct Threats Come First”
During a recent Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) pressed Gabbard on the omission, asking why climate change—often labeled a global threat in previous reports—was nowhere to be found in the 2025 assessment.
Gabbard didn’t mince words.
“We’re focused on the direct threats to Americans’ safety, well-being, and security,” she told lawmakers. “That includes terrorism, cyberattacks, state-sponsored aggression, and transnational criminal networks. These are the threats that demand our full attention today.”
Real-World Priorities Over Political Messaging
Gabbard made clear that this is not about ignoring the environment but rather about avoiding mission creep in national security. She emphasized that while agencies remain aware of environmental impacts on military readiness or disaster response, intelligence resources should not be diluted by political narratives.
Under her leadership, the Intelligence Community has refocused its assessments to zero in on terrorism, cyber warfare, the China-Russia axis, rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea, and threats at the U.S. southern border—all of which are considered clear and present dangers.
A Return to Clarity in Intelligence
The decision to leave climate change out of the threat assessment has drawn applause from national security conservatives, who say previous reports became overly politicized and less useful as strategic tools.
One senior official familiar with the matter stated, “This report is no longer a platform for climate activists. It’s back to being a national security document.”
The Bottom Line
With Tulsi Gabbard at the helm, the Intelligence Community is making it clear: America’s security apparatus is returning to its core mission—protecting the homeland from real, immediate threats, not getting lost in speculative future risks driven by political agendas.
In her words: “We don’t have the luxury of distraction. We’re here to defend this country.”
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
The post Gabbard On Leaving Climate Change Out Of Threat Report: Only Focused On ‘Critical Direct Threats’ appeared first on Real News Now.
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