Tulsi Gabbard

Congresswoman Gabbard meets with Trump and Pence, one of the first Democrats to meet with the President-elect. However a Trump spokesman says it is “premature” to discuss her potential role in the Trump administration. Both Trump and Gabbard oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, reportedly likes Gabbard because of her stance on guns, refugees and Islamic extremism along with her ability to invoke strong anti-establishment populist sentiment on the left. Gabbard:

President-elect Trump asked me to meet with him about our current policies regarding Syria, our fight against terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria], as well as other foreign policy challenges we face. I felt it important to take the opportunity to meet with the President-elect now before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government—a war which has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions of refugees to flee their homes in search of safety for themselves and their families.

She says she will not hesitate to express any disagreement with Trump, but believes they can come together on some issues.