The Voice News: In a grave and emotional message shared via her personal account on X, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard warned that the United States is now “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before.” Her remarks, delivered through a three-minute video, signal a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump’s past commentary on nuclear conflict and reflect her continued alarm over escalating global tensions.
The video, posted Tuesday, features Gabbard during a recent visit to Hiroshima, Japan, where she paid respects to the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing. Amid scenes of memorials and historical landmarks, Gabbard reflects on the devastating impact of nuclear war and accuses political elites and warmongers of pushing the world toward catastrophe.
“This isn’t some made-up science fiction story. This is our reality,” Gabbard says in the video. “Political elites and warmongers are carelessly fueling fear and tension between nuclear powers, bringing us ever closer to destruction.”
The video also includes a chilling simulation of a nuclear attack on San Francisco, showing the Golden Gate Bridge reduced to rubble, intended to visualize the horrifying consequences of such a conflict.
Gabbard’s comments come just days after she attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, one of Asia’s premier defense and security conferences. Her video reiterates many of the themes she raised there, particularly her long-standing critique of the Washington establishment’s military adventurism.
She also took aim at what she sees as hypocrisy and elitism among those in power: “Perhaps they’re so confident in their access to secure nuclear shelters for themselves and their families that they’ve forgotten regular Americans won’t have that protection,” Gabbard warned.
Gabbard called on Americans to “speak up and demand an end to this madness,” urging a collective rejection of the path to nuclear war and a rededication to peace.
Her warning stands in clear contrast to President Trump’s historical remarks. In 2016, then-candidate Trump mocked President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima, calling it “pathetic” and dismissing the need for any apology over the U.S. atomic bombings. “Who cares?” Trump said at the time.
In January 2024, Trump again referenced Hiroshima during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, saying: “Hiroshima—not exactly a nice act—but it did end the second World War, probably. Right?”
Though Trump has made occasional statements supporting global nuclear disarmament—most recently suggesting in March that “it would be great if everybody got rid of their nuclear weapons”—his administration’s foreign policy has often escalated nuclear tensions with Russia, China, and Iran.
Still, Gabbard’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Alexa Henning, emphasized alignment between Gabbard and Trump’s broader goals for peace. “President Trump has repeatedly recognized the catastrophic potential of nuclear war,” Henning told ABC News. “DNI Gabbard supports his stated objectives to achieve lasting peace and prevent war.”
Yet Gabbard’s current message echoes the anti-war rhetoric of her earlier political career—particularly her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, which was heavily influenced by the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii, an event that terrified residents and shaped her view on nuclear risk.
Back in 2019, Gabbard sharply criticized Trump’s foreign policy, accusing him of dismantling the Iran nuclear agreement and taking the U.S. dangerously close to war. “Every day without a deal, Iran gets closer to building a bomb,” she warned at the time.
After endorsing Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign as an independent, Gabbard shifted her criticism to the Biden-Harris administration, claiming they have dragged the U.S. into “multiple wars on multiple fronts” and heightened the risk of nuclear disaster.
Though now officially part of the Trump administration, Gabbard’s latest video makes clear that she still holds a deeply independent stance—one shaped by a mistrust of both Democratic and Republican foreign policy orthodoxy, and an unwavering commitment to preventing another Hiroshima.
Her warning, delivered against a backdrop of rising global tensions, is not just a policy critique—it’s a personal call to action: “We must work for a future where no one lives in fear of a nuclear holocaust.”