How Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks revived debate on U.S. ‘regime change’ policy and Bangladesh’s 2024 crisis

Gabbard reignites regime change debate

U.S. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks on the end of America’s “regime change or nation building” strategy under President Donald Trump have reignited debate about Washington’s global interventions, particularly its alleged role in the political turmoil that led to Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in Bangladesh last year.

Gabbard, a former Congresswoman and U.S. Army National Guard veteran, said, “For decades, our foreign policy has been trapped in a counterproductive and endless cycle of regime change or nation building. It was a one-size-fits-all approach, of toppling regimes, trying to impose our system of governance on others, intervene in conflicts that were barely understood and walk away with more enemies than allies."

“The results: Trillions spent, countless lives lost and in many cases, the creation of greater security threats," she further said at the opening debate of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain. Gabbard credited President Donald Trump’s “pragmatic, deal-driven” approach with steering U.S. foreign policy away from this “failed model.”

Contradictions in Trump’s 'non-interference' policy

Despite Gabbard’s praise, her remarks appeared at odds with the Trump administration’s own record. The U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites have drawn criticism for contradicting the president’s stated policy of non-interference in other nations’ internal affairs.

Reports have also surfaced suggesting that Washington considered plans to strike cocaine facilities and drug routes in Venezuela as part of an operation to dismantle a cartel allegedly run by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Furthermore, Trump’s engagement with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa — a former al-Qaida fighter once imprisoned by the U.S. in Iraq — appeared inconsistent with the administration’s stated retreat from interventionist policies.

U.S. role in Bangladesh crisis

Mohammad Ali Arafat, a former Bangladeshi minister and academic, pointed to Washington’s alleged role in the violent protests that unseated Sheikh Hasina in 2024.

“For several decades, the United States has followed a policy of ‘regime change’ or ‘state-building’ in other countries. According to the country’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, this policy came to an end during President Donald Trump’s administration," he said in a post on X.

“DNI Tulsi Gabbard clearly stated that the U.S. pursued this policy until Trump took office, so why is it so hard to believe that what happened in Bangladesh in July–August 2024 was essentially a regime change operation, just as Sheikh Hasina repeatedly claimed and as many clear signs suggest?"

Allegations of U.S. involvement persist

Earlier this year, a former U.S. State Department official alleged that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) played a key role in supporting the regime change, according to Anadolu Agency.

Mike Benz told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that the USAID was backed by the State Department “in their plan to destabilise Bangladeshi politics.”

“In the process of doing that, they sought the LGBT population, two Bangladeshi ethnic minority groups, and young students and student groups who had already been protesting earlier that year because of some local politics issue there," he said, noting that they collaborated with 170 “pro-democracy activists” and 304 informants.

Trump denies U.S. role

President Trump has denied any American involvement in Bangladesh’s regime change, though Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly accused Washington of undermining her government.