Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. national intelligence director, said Friday that America’s former strategy of “regime change or nation building” has ended under President Donald Trump.
Gabbard was speaking at the Manama Dialogue, an annual security summit in Bahrain put on by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Her comments came amid renewed debate over U.S. engagement in the Middle East, just weeks after the Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit.
During the speech, Gabbard referred to the Trump administration’s commitment to an America First foreign policy, and expressed hope that expanding the Abraham Accords would promote lasting regional peace and stability.
Gabbard described Washington’s past approach to foreign policy as “a one-size-fits-all approach of toppling regimes… and walking away with more enemies than allies.”
“President Trump understands that not everyone shares our exact values or our system of governance, and that’s okay,” she said, adding that her remarks reflected a broader shift toward pursuing joint interests and “finding where our shared common ground exists.”
“America First is not about isolating ourselves,” said Gabbard. “As President Trump has shown, it’s about engaging in direct diplomacy, being willing to have conversations that others are not willing to have, and finding that path forward where our mutual sovereign interests are aligned.”
Gabbard’s comments come as Washington steps up its pressure campaign against Venezuela, with Trump recently saying that President Nicolás Maduro’s rule could be coming to an end.
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