Washington DC - Donald Trump on Wednesday named former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has opposed US support for Ukraine and met Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, as his incoming Director of National Intelligence.

The Republican president-elect said Gabbard, a veteran and one-time Democratic White House contender, would "bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community."

Gabbard thanked Trump "for the opportunity to serve as a member of your cabinet to defend the safety, security and freedom of the American people. I look forward to getting to work."

The former Hawaii congresswoman switched sides from the Democrats and backed Trump earlier this year, helping him during his debate preparations against Kamala Harris, and had been expecting a reward for lining up behind the former president.

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She has long held isolationist foreign policy views and embraced a number of conspiracy theories.

Gabbard made false claims in 2022 about there being US-sponsored biolabs in Ukraine – a key trope of Russian propaganda justifying Moscow's invasion that year.

She demanded US military withdrawal from Iraq and Syria during her 2020 presidential run.

In 2019, Hillary Clinton said that Russia was grooming a US Democratic candidate for a third-party run, in comments that were apparently directed at Gabbard – and strongly rejected by her.

Gabbard also had a controversial 2017 meeting with Syria's Assad at the height of the country's bloody civil war.

Gabbard's position was announced alongside the confirmation of Senator Marco Rubio's appointment as secretary of state and far-right Florida lawmaker Matt Gaetz's role as US attorney general in the second Trump administration.