ST. LOUIS — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a reorientation of U.S. intelligence collection efforts toward border security and counternarcotics operations, describing it as “the biggest shift in collection priorities in ODNI history.”
Speaking May 19 at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium, Gabbard outlined how the Trump administration’s national security priorities will reshape the work of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, placing unprecedented emphasis on domestic border surveillance while maintaining America’s global intelligence capabilities.
“A focus on border security, counterterrorism and counternarcotics is a new front in many ways,” Gabbard said. “There hasn’t been an emphasis on collection in this area, so immediately we will be ramping up that focus.”
The shift would affect thousands of intelligence professionals across the geospatial intelligence sector, which specializes in analyzing imagery, maps and location-based data to understand activities and physical environments.
“Not isolationist”
Gabbard, who oversees the budget and activities of all U.S. intelligence agencies in her cabinet-level position, sought to clarify that President Trump’s approach to foreign policy should not be misinterpreted.
She noted that while Trump has said the United States should not be the “world’s police… this view of the world should not be seen as isolationist.”
Instead, she described a realignment of collection assets that would increase focus on both the southern and northern U.S. borders, requiring unprecedented coordination between agencies.
“It’s collection, but it is also fusion and complete understanding that requires our national intelligence capabilities working very closely with federal, state and local law enforcement,” she added. “We can’t have these silos in information and intelligence.”
Budget concerns linger
Gabbard’s remarks come against a backdrop of ongoing funding cuts and workforce reductions across the U.S. intelligence community, which she acknowledged indirectly. She noted that while “parts of the government have seen severe cuts,” intelligence priorities have been “largely protected so far.”
Describing herself as “just a normie who has been a consumer of much of your work throughout my career, both in the military and in politics,” Gabbard drew on her background as both a military officer and congressional representative to connect with the specialized audience.
Without directly criticizing the performance of intelligence professionals, Gabbard referenced longstanding frustrations within military and congressional circles regarding intelligence delivery.
“As someone who served in uniform for over 22 years and served in Congress for eight years on the foreign affairs and armed services committees, I had been a customer of intelligence for a long time, and had a lot of first hand frustrations based on the products that were being delivered,” Gabbard said.
She added that “a lot of folks in Congress have the same frustrations, which is that intelligence, in order for it to be useful, has to be timely, has to be relevant, and it has to be objective and unbiased.”
Technology integration challenges
During a fireside chat with Ronda Schrenk, CEO of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, Gabbard expressed admiration for innovations on display at the symposium.
“I was thoroughly impressed with the innovation and the problem solving mindset that I saw on display,” she said after touring the exhibit hall.
However, she identified persistent barriers to adopting commercial solutions within government. “The problems that I have seen just in the short time that I’ve served in this role are when people in government with the best of intentions try to solve problems that someone in the private sector has solved 10 times better,” she said.
Gabbard indicated her office would direct the streamlining of contracts across intelligence agencies to eliminate duplicative efforts, “so that we can save a lot of money and make sure that our IC elements are getting the most bang for the buck.”
AI and open-source intelligence
The DNI also emphasized the need to better leverage artificial intelligence technologies while acknowledging widespread apprehension about AI’s role in intelligence work.
“It is the buzzword, everybody’s talking about it,” she said of AI. “There’s no replacement for humans in life or work, including in geospatial intelligence, but we have to look at this challenge as an opportunity to change our roles.”
Gabbard called on intelligence analysts to “understand, engage in direct AI for the amplification and maximization of their own work and capabilities,” while noting that “there’s a lack of understanding of AI, not only of its capabilities, but because of this lack of understanding, there’s a lot of fear.”
She also called for greater integration of open-source intelligence (OSINT) — the process of gathering and analyzing publicly available information — with traditional intelligence disciplines.
“OSINT is an area of relatively new focus from Congress,” Gabbard said, adding that intelligence operators have told her they are limited by authorities that don’t allow for OSINT integration with other intelligence capabilities.
“Human intelligence, signals intelligence, and geospatial intelligence should all be integrated, as well as OSINT,” she said. “We can really maximize maintaining that qualitative edge when we are maximizing all of our collection capabilities across the board.”
