US President Donald Trump praised his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, as “hotter than everybody” after she issued a new report aimed at casting doubt on long-established findings about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election.
Trump has sometimes used “hottest” to mean something akin to in-demand or buzzy, including during his 45-minute remarks Tuesday night, when he repeatedly referred to the US as “the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
"Director of national intelligence, Tulsi, she is like hotter than everybody. She is the hottest one in the room right now,” Trump said at a gathering.
Trump claimed that former President Barack Obama led a group of people who ‘cheated’ in the 2016 election. The Republican accused Obama of 'treason', accusing him of leading an effort to falsely tie him to Russia and undermine his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump said he was very happy with Gabbard and said: “Tulsi, great job — and I know you have a lot more coming.”
Tulsi Gabbard's report on Barack Obama on the 2016 election conspiracy
Director of national intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department related to a report published on Friday that asserted the officials in the Barack Obama administration had been part of a "treasonous conspiracy."
{{/usCountry}}Director of national intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department related to a report published on Friday that asserted the officials in the Barack Obama administration had been part of a "treasonous conspiracy."
{{/usCountry}}Gabbard claimed Obama and his team had manufactured intelligence regarding Russian election interference to "lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Donald Trump."
Her report flies in the face of evidence amassed in four separate criminal, counterintelligence and watchdog probes issued between 2019 and 2023 -- all of which concluded that Russia did intervene on Trump's behalf in the 2016 election.
Trump has claimed since they were launched that the various probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election -- and his own campaign's involvement -- were a "hoax."
A bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee -- spearheaded by then acting chairman Marco Rubio, now Trump's secretary of state -- found in 2020 that the Trump campaign sought to "maximise the impact" of leaks of Democratic documents stolen by Russian military intelligence.