Among the risks, say current and former intelligence officials and independent experts, are that top advisers could feed the incoming president a distorted view of global threats based on what they believe will please him and that foreign allies may be reluctant to share vital information.

Donald Trump was expected to pick an outsider to lead the U.S. intelligence community. He exceeded expectations by choosing Tulsi Gabbard. The former Democratic member of Congress from Hawaii has many critics and no formal intelligence experience.

Gabbard, an Army Reserve officer whose antiwar views are seen as sympathetic to Moscow, is considered an unconventional choice to lead U.S. spy agencies.

Gabbard hasn't worked directly in the intelligence community but served two years on the House Homeland Security Committee.

In a statement on Wednesday, President-elect Trump announced that he is appointing Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence in his new Cabinet.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has selected former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as his director of national intelligence. Gabbard represented Hawaii in Congress as a Democrat from 2013 to 2021 and unsuccessfully sought the party's presidential nomination in 2020.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday he has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democratic representative and critic of the Biden administration, as his director of national intelligence.