Intelligence officials said Tuesday that cartels and gangs pose the most direct danger to the United States. [emphasis, links added]
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said they have flooded the U.S. with drugs, helping illegal immigrants flood the border and are increasingly violent in areas south of the border where they operate.
Cartels and gangs are “the most immediate and direct threat to the United States,” she said.
She noted that she attributed the cartels and most Chinese companies to the point of view of prodrugs as the biggest manifestation of the threat.
Ms. Gabbard said the United States still faces threats from the Islamic State, as well as challenges from Russia, Iran, North Korea and China, which she labels as the most dangerous enemy of the country.
“China is the actor who is most capable of threatening the interests of the United States,” she said, although communist countries are more cautious than others, mainly because it does not want to risk the economic or global image.
What is missing in the report is the mention of climate change, which was in previous assessments.
Senator Angus King, who is independent in Maine, said it was strange.
Sen Angus King spent his time today grilling Tulsi Gabbard to understand…the national security threats to clinical changes.
“Did global climate change be addressed? Who decides that it shouldn't be in this report?” pic.twitter.com/c6ikst63an
-Western Lensman (@westernlensman) March 25, 2025
“Did you indicate that no findings of climate change were found in this report?” he asked Ms. Gabbard.
She replied, “I don’t remember giving instructions.”
Democrats also mocked intelligence leaders for excluding any mention of Canada in the drug smuggling issue.
Reading break in Washington Times
