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Cartels and gangs pose the most direct danger to the U.S., intelligence officials said Tuesday as they delivered their annual global threat assessment to Congress. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also warned that American spies are observing China, Iran, North Korea and Russia working closer together in opposition to America, and the increased collaboration probably won’t end soon.
Ms. Gabbard said drug cartels have flooded America with drugs, helped migrants swamp the border and are growing increasingly violent in the areas south of the border where they operate.
She said the cartels and gangs are what “most immediately and directly threaten the United States.”
She pointed to more than 50,000 synthetic opioid deaths she attributed to the cartels and to the largely Chinese firms that supply the precursor drugs as the largest manifestation of the threat.
Ms. Gabbard said the U.S. still faces threats from the Islamic State and challenges from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. She labeled China as America’s most dangerous state foe.
“China stands out as the actor most capable of threatening U.S. interests globally,” she said, though she said the country is more cautious than the others, chiefly because it doesn’t want to risk its economy or global image.
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Ms. Gabbard told lawmakers that Russia is responsible for much of the greater partnership, which has developed since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“Removing the accelerant of the war in Ukraine is unlikely to revert these bilateral relationships to a prewar, 2021 baseline, leaving room for new strategic priorities and world events to create new incentives or challenges to their currently high levels of cooperation,” Ms. Gabbard told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “Russia has been a catalyst for much of this expanded cooperation.”
Ms. Gabbard also told lawmakers that Russia is pushing for greater teamwork among America’s foes to fuel its war effort against Ukraine, including protection from Western sanctions. She said Russia has exchanged military capabilities with North Korea, relied heavily on China’s financial and defense industries, and expanded financial ties with Iran.
The threat assessment report said Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are working in tandem and in isolation to challenge American interests with a range of tactics, including promoting alternatives to the U.S. for trade, finance and security.
“They seek to challenge the United States and other countries through deliberate campaigns to gain an advantage while also trying to avoid direct war,” the assessment said. “Growing cooperation between and among these adversaries is increasing their fortitude against the United States, the potential for hostilities with any one of them to draw in another, and pressure on other global actors to choose sides.”
America’s adversaries uniting in opposition was evident inside the hearing room, according to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton.
The Arkansas Republican said anti-war CodePink activists interrupting the hearing to oppose U.S. funding of Israel were collecting cash from China.
“The fact that Communist China funds CodePink, which interrupts a hearing like this, about Israel, simply [illustrates] Director Gabbard’s point that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and other American adversaries are working in concert to greater degree than they ever have before,” Mr. Cotton said.
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford said Tuesday that the intelligence community’s annual assessment showed America’s adversaries were “pushing the boundaries just to see how far the U.S. will let them go.”
Left out of the report is any mention of climate change, which had been in previous assessments.
Sen. Angus King, Maine independent, said that was odd.
“Did you instruct that there be no finding in terms of climate change in this report?” he demanded of Ms. Gabbard.
“I don’t recall giving that instruction,” she replied.
Democrats also chided the intelligence leaders over the exclusion of any mention of Canada in the drug smuggling concerns.
President Trump has cited drugs coming across the northern border as justification for his tough new tariffs.
“I was surprised, given the rhetoric, that there was no mention of Canada,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich, New Mexico Democrat.
Mr. Trump has pushed his administration onto an aggressive footing when it comes to the cartels and international gangs, such as Tren de Aragua.
He declared a number of Mexican cartels along with TdA and MS-13, another notorious international gang, to be terrorist organizations.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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