In her first major address as Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard demonstrated an unexpected embrace of the intelligence community’s status quo – marking yet another departure from Donald Trump’s campaign promises to challenge the “deep state.”

Speaking at a recent intelligence community gathering, Gabbard repeatedly emphasized “cooperation” and “partnerships” with the international intelligence community – language that stands in stark contrast to Trump’s “America First” campaign rhetoric and promises to dismantle the intelligence establishment.

“President Trump’s policies are focused on ‘America First,’ but that should not be mistakenly perceived as ‘America alone,'” Gabbard stated, in what appeared to be a direct softening of Trump’s nationalist positioning.

This apparent reversal adds to a growing list of broken campaign promises just weeks into Trump’s second term. The administration has already disappointed supporters by shuttering the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – a key watchdog protecting conservatives from banking abuse – while failing to deliver on day-one promises to reduce grocery prices and end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“The challenges presented by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea similarly demand a united front,” Gabbard declared, employing language typically associated with the multilateral approach Trump has repeatedly criticized.

Trump supporters expected a DNI who would fundamentally challenge the intelligence community’s power structure. Instead, they’re getting what sounds like a continuation of business as usual.

Gabbard’s emphasis on “strengthening relationships” with international intelligence partners particularly stands out, given Trump’s campaign promises to reduce foreign entanglements and challenge the global intelligence apparatus.

The speech’s cooperative tone represents a stark departure from expectations that Gabbard would serve as a reformer in the mold of Trump and other MAGA-aligned officials. Instead, her remarks could have easily come from any previous administration’s intelligence director.

For Trump’s base, who anticipated a dramatic overhaul of the intelligence community, this latest development follows a pattern of campaign promises giving way to conventional Washington practices. The administration that promised to “drain the swamp” appears to be filling key positions with officials who embrace rather than challenge establishment norms.

As inflation continues to impact American households and international conflicts persist, the gap between Trump’s campaign promises and his administration’s actions continues to widen. Gabbard’s speech suggests that the promised shake-up of the intelligence community may be the latest casualty of this pattern.

The question remains whether Trump’s base will continue to accept these departures from campaign promises, or if this latest reversal will finally trigger significant pushback from his supporters.