Tulsi Gabbard maintains her role as a member of the Hawaii National Guard (AFP)
Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, an Iraq war veteran who met dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria during that country's devastating civil war, said Friday that she is launching a US presidential bid.
"I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week," Gabbard told CNN.
If elected, the 37-year-old lawmaker, who is known to surf the waters of her native Hawaii, would be the youngest president in US history.
She is the first Hindu member of Congress and its first Samoan American member, and she sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve," she said.
Gabbard's announcement comes ahead of what is expected to be a wave of high-profile candidates throwing their hats in the ring.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has formed an exploratory committee for a presidential bid, and last week took a high-profile trip to the early voting state of Iowa.
Former vice president Joe Biden and progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, whom Gabbard supported over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries, are also mulling entering the race.
Julian Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio who served in Barack Obama's cabinet as housing secretary, says he will announce his 2020 plans on Saturday.
Gabbard drew heavy criticism when she met secretly with Assad in Damascus in 2017 during a fact-finding mission that also took her to the decimated city of Aleppo. She also met with refugees and Syrian opposition leaders.
"Originally, I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it," Gabbard said when her trip became public.
"I think we should be ready to meet with anyone if there's a chance it can help bring about an end to this war, which is causing the Syrian people so much suffering."
Gabbard was deployed to Iraq in 2005, and she maintains her role as a member of the Hawaii National Guard.
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