Tulsi Gabbard ( TUL-see GAB-ərd; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and an Army reserve officer serving as a Lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2021 after 17 years of service with Hawaii Army National Guard from 2003 to 2020. She served as U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the first Samoan-American member of Congress, and the youngest woman elected to the Hawaii state legislature. She was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. She left the Democratic Party in October 2022 to become an independent, before joining the Republican Party in 2024.

Earlier in 2003, Gabbard joined the Hawaii Army National Guard and was deployed in Iraq from 2004 to 2005, where she served in a medical unit. In 2007, Gabbard completed the Officer training program at the Alabama Military Academy and graduated at the top of her class. She was stationed in Kuwait from 2008 to 2009 as an Army Military Police platoon leader. In 2015 Gabbard became a major with the Hawaii Army National Guard. In 2020, she transferred to U.S. Army Reserve and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2021, while she was deployed in the Horn of Africa as a Civil Affairs officer.

During her time in Congress, Gabbard became known for her strong stand against Islamic terrorism in the Middle East and her controversial positions on Syria. Around 2015, she often criticized the Obama administration for not recognizing Islamic extremism as a problem. She served as vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2013 to 2016, and resigned from the position to endorse Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. In 2017, Gabbard expressed skepticism about some of the military actions against Syria. In her 2020 presidential campaign, she highlighted a broad opposition to military interventionism, while reiterating her position on combating terrorism. After ending her presidential candidacy, she endorsed Joe Biden in March 2020.

After her departure from the House of Representatives in January 2021, Gabbard took more conservative positions on issues such as abortion, foreign policy, LGBTQ rights, and border security. She appeared frequently on Fox News, often serving as a fill-in host for Tucker Carlson Tonight. In October 2022, Gabbard left the Democratic Party citing differences on foreign policy and social issues. Gabbard campaigned for several Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections, and was a featured speaker during that year's Conservative Political Action Conferences (CPAC).

In August 2024, Gabbard endorsed former president Donald Trump for the 2024 United States presidential election while speaking at the National Guard Association conference. Subsequently, she became an honorary co-chair of Trump's 2024 presidential transition team. In November 2024, Trump selected Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence in his second term.