Comparing US Iran strike to Hiroshima, Trump plays down intelligence report
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Vietnam’s PM expects US trade deal before July tariff deadline
Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US climbed to US$12.2 billion in May, marking a nearly 42% increase year-on-year and a 17% rise from April. The country seeks to avoid the reinstatement of a 46% tariff rate, initially imposed due to its substantial trade surplus. The US submitted a list of trade demands to Hanoi, which Vietnamese officials described as ‘tough’
HANOI : Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said today he expected a trade deal with the US before the expiration of a pause on 46% reciprocal tariffs on Vietnamese exports in early July.
Speaking at the “Is Asia’s Century at Risk?” panel during the ongoing World Economic Forum in Tianjin, in northeastern China, Chinh said Vietnam’s government was in frequent communication with the Trump administration on tariffs.
“I hope that you will see that the result will come earlier than two weeks,” Chinh said.
“Vietnam and the US share a deep understanding on tariffs… I hope that all the positive things will come for us.”
Vietnam, a major manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia, has held several rounds of negotiations with the US, the latest of which concluded last week.
The country seeks to avoid the reinstatement of a 46% tariff rate, initially imposed due to its substantial trade surplus with Washington.
Reuters reported that the US submitted a list of trade demands to Hanoi, which Vietnamese officials described as “tough”, and was also pushing Vietnam to reduce the use of Chinese tech in devices that are assembled in the country before being exported to America.
Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US climbed to US$12.2 billion in May, marking a nearly 42% increase year-on-year and a 17% rise from April, according to government data.
Exports to the US surged 42% from a year earlier to US$13.8 billion, hitting a post-pandemic peak.
Under pressure from Washington, Hanoi has intensified efforts to curb illegal trans-shipment, predominantly involving goods from China.
Additionally, Vietnam has expressed willingness to reduce non-tariff barriers and expand imports of US goods, including planes, agricultural products and energy, though no formal purchase agreements have been announced.
Comparing US Strike on Iran to Hiroshima, Trump Plays Down Intelligence Report
US President Donald Trump compared the impact of American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to the end of World War II. Trump argued that the damage was severe even though available intelligence reports were inconclusive. His comments followed reports that the strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear program by just a few months, despite Trump and administration officials saying it had been obliterated. Trump has an uneasy relationship with the US intelligence community, and the success of the strikes is politically critical to him. Some of his right-leaning supporters had argued loudly beforehand that such military intervention was inconsistent with his domestic-focused “Make America Great Again” agenda and his promise to avoid foreign entanglements. He has countered by insisting that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon – a line that an accurate, decisive attack would support.
His comments followed reports by Reuters and other media outlets on Tuesday revealing that the US Defense Intelligence Agency had assessed that the strikes had set back Iran‘s nuclear program by just a few months, despite Trump and administration officials saying it had been obliterated.
“The intelligence was … very inconclusive,” Trump told reporters while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of a summit in The Hague.
“The intelligence says, ‘We don’t know, it could have been very severe.’ That’s what the intelligence says. So, I guess that’s correct, but I think we can take the ‘we don’t know.’ It was very severe. It was obliteration,” Trump added.
SUCCESS OF IRAN STRIKES CRUCIAL FOR TRUMP
Trump has an uneasy relationship with the US intelligence community, and the success of the strikes is politically critical to him.
Some of his right-leaning supporters had argued loudly beforehand that such military intervention was inconsistent with Trump‘s domestic-focused “Make America Great Again” agenda and his promise to avoid foreign entanglements.
Trump has countered by insisting that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon – a line that an accurate, decisive attack would support.
Trump said the US strikes were responsible for ending the war between Israel and Iran and compared them to the United States’ use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which brought an end to World War II in 1945.
“I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war. This ended the war,” Trump said.
Trump argued that Iran‘s nuclear program had been set back “basically decades, because I don’t think they’ll ever do it again” and he turned to top advisers to reinforce that message.
Broadly, he has argued that the strikes were much more successful than has so far been reported in the US media.
The White House on Wednesday shared what it said was a statement from the Israel Atomic Energy Commission – that country’s nuclear regulator – assessing that Iran‘s nuclear program had been set back by “many years.”
Al Jazeera quoted an Iranian official on Wednesday saying that the country’s nuclear installations had been “badly damaged.”
HEGSETH AND RUBIO REINFORCE TRUMP‘S MESSAGE
Trump, who arrived in the Netherlands late on Tuesday for NATO’s annual summit, was sitting beside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who both also cast doubt on the reliability of the DIA assessment.
“When you actually look at the report – by the way, it was a top secret report – it was preliminary, it was low-confidence,” Hegseth said. “This is a political motive here.”
He said the FBI was investigating a potential leak. Rubio suggested that those responsible for sharing the report had mischaracterized it, saying: “This is the game they play.”
All three men criticized media reports about the intelligence assessments.
At the summit, NATO member states were set to announce their joint intention to raise defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product.
While some countries have suggested they may not in fact reach that threshold, the Trump administration has pointed to the expected commitment as a significant foreign policy victory.
Iran calls NATO chief remarks on US strikes ‘disgraceful’
Rutte’s comments come after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the strikes “unacceptable” and “disgraceful” Iran’s foreign minister said the strikes were an act of war against its own people. He called on the U.K. government to take further action to protect the Iranian people from the threat of nuclear attacks. The strikes were in response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s threats to use force against the West if necessary.
Iran on Wednesday (25 June) condemned NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s remarks praising US strikes on its nuclear facilities, calling them “disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible.”
The criticism came after Rutte, in a pre-NATO summit note to former US President Donald Trump, applauded what he described as Trump’s “decisive action” in Iran, reports AFP.
It is disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible for #NATO’s SG to congratulate a ‘truly extraordinary’ criminal act of aggression against a sovereign State.
Who endorses an injustice lacks integrity.
who supports a crime is regarded as complicit. Keep updated, follow The Business Standard’s Google news channel June 25, 2025
The note, written Tuesday, hailed the recent American strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites.
Rutte wrote that the move “was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer.”
Responding to the comments, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei lashed out on social media platform X. “It was ‘disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible for #NATO’s SG to congratulate a ‘truly extraordinary’ criminal act of aggression against a sovereign State,'” Baqaei stated. He added, “Whoever supports a crime is regarded as complicit.”
The United States conducted strikes on Sunday targeting key nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz — just ten days after a major Israeli assault on Iran.
On 13 June, Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear infrastructure that killed several top military commanders and nuclear scientists, according to Iranian sources.
In response, Iran launched multiple waves of missile strikes before a ceasefire took effect on Tuesday.
Former President Trump, speaking on Wednesday, claimed that the US strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, insisting the attacks had set Tehran’s atomic program back “decades.”
However, leaked US intelligence reports contradicted that claim, suggesting the strikes had only delayed Iran’s nuclear efforts by a few months.
Iranian authorities have yet to provide detailed assessments of the actual damage inflicted on the targeted nuclear sites.
Comparing US Iran strike to Hiroshima, Trump plays down intelligence report
U.S. President Donald Trump compared the impact of American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to the end of World War Two on Wednesday. Trump argued that the damage was severe even though available intelligence reports were inconclusive. His comments followed reports that the U.S Defense Intelligence Agency had assessed that the strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear program by just a few months. The White House on Wednesday shared what it said was a statement from the Israel Atomic Energy Commission assessing that Iran’snuclear program had been set back by “many years” An Iranian official on Wednesday said that the country’s nuclear installations had been “badly damaged” Trump: U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran is “a very, very serious matter” and must be resolved “as soon as possible” and not as late as possible. The resolution is expected to be voted on at a meeting of the Security Council on Thursday. The meeting is the first of a two-day NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, which is also the site of the World Economic Forum.
Item 1 of 2 A satellite image shows airstrike craters over the underground centrifuge halls of the Natanz Enrichment Facility, following U.S. airstrikes amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Natanz County, Iran, June 22, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Summary Trump says Iranian nuclear program set back decades
Hegseth says FBI investigating leak
Intelligence report says strikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability
THE HAGUE, June 25 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump compared the impact of American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to the end of World War Two on Wednesday, arguing that the damage was severe even though available intelligence reports were inconclusive.
His comments followed reports by Reuters and other media outlets on Tuesday revealing that the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency had assessed that the strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear program by just a few months, despite Trump and administration officials saying it had been obliterated.
Sign up here.
“The intelligence was … very inconclusive,” Trump told reporters while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of a summit in The Hague.
“The intelligence says, ‘We don’t know, it could have been very severe.’ That’s what the intelligence says. So I guess that’s correct, but I think we can take the ‘we don’t know’. It was very severe. It was obliteration,” Trump added.
SUCCESS OF IRAN STRIKES CRUCIAL FOR TRUMP
Trump has an uneasy relationship with the U.S. intelligence community, and the success of the strikes is politically critical to him.
His right-leaning supporters had argued loudly beforehand that such military intervention was inconsistent with Trump’s domestic-focused “Make America Great Again” agenda and his promise to avoid foreign entanglements.
Trump has countered by insisting that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon – a line that an accurate, decisive attack would support.
Trump said the U.S. strikes were responsible for ending the war between Israel and Iran and compared them to the United States’ use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which brought an end to World War Two in 1945.
“I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war. This ended the war,” Trump said.
Trump argued that Iran’s nuclear program had been set back “basically decades, because I don’t think they’ll ever do it again” and he turned to top advisers to reinforce that message.
Broadly, he has argued that the strikes were much more successful than has so far been reported in the U.S. media.
The White House on Wednesday shared what it said was a statement from the Israel Atomic Energy Commission – that country’s nuclear regulator – assessing that Iran’s nuclear program had been set back by “many years.”
Al Jazeera quoted an Iranian official on Wednesday saying that the country’s nuclear installations had been “badly damaged.”
HEGSETH AND RUBIO REINFORCE TRUMP’S MESSAGE
Trump, who arrived in the Netherlands late on Tuesday for NATO’s annual summit, was sitting beside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who both also cast doubt on the reliability of the DIA assessment.
“When you actually look at the report – by the way, it was a top secret report – it was preliminary, it was low-confidence,” Hegseth said. “This is a political motive here.”
He said the FBI was investigating a potential leak. Rubio suggested that those responsible for sharing the report had mischaracterized it, saying: “This is the game they play.”
All three men criticized media reports about the intelligence assessments.
At the summit, NATO member states were set to announce their joint intention to raise defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product.
While some countries have suggested they may not in fact reach that threshold, the Trump administration has pointed to the expected commitment as a significant foreign policy victory.
Reporting by Jeff Mason and Gram Slattery; additional reporting by Bart H. Meijer and Makini Brice; Editing by Dominique Vidalon, Kevin Liffey, Richard Lough and Chizu Nomiyama
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab
Share X
Link Purchase Licensing Rights
Trump reassures allies as Nato agrees to ‘historic’ spending hike
Donald Trump had rattled allies by casting doubt on the validity of Nato’s nationship. (AP pic) “It�s a great victory for everybody, I think, and we will be equalised,” Trump said of the new spending commitment. “I think progress is being made.” “We should realise that our long break from history is over.’ ““I’m going to take the plaudits”, said Donald Trump, “and we’re going to have a great time”. ”“What do you think?” I asked. � “What are your thoughts?’” he said, ”What do I think? I’ve never seen anything like this before.“”I think this is going to be a great experience,’ he said.
THE HAGUE : US President Donald Trump took a victory lap at Nato’s Hague summit today, joining leaders in reaffirming the “ironclad” commitment to protect each other after allies agreed to his demand to ramp up defence spending.
The unpredictable US leader appeared keen to take the plaudits as he secured a key foreign policy win by getting Nato’s 32 countries to agree to meet his headline target of 5% of GDP on defence spending.
In a move that will provide reassurance to allies in Europe worried over the threat from Russia, Trump signed off on a final leaders’ declaration confirming “our ironclad commitment” to Nato’s collective defence pledge that an attack on one is an attack on all.
“It’s a great victory for everybody, I think, and we will be equalised,” Trump said of the new spending commitment, ahead of the summit’s main session.
Diplomats said that behind closed doors Trump insisted there was no greater ally than Washington and urged others to spend some of the new money on US weaponry.
The deal hatched by Nato is a compromise that allows Trump to claim triumph, while in reality providing wiggle room for cash-strapped governments in Europe.
It sees countries promise to dedicate 3.5% of GDP to core military spending by 2035, and a further 1.5% to broader security-related areas such as infrastructure.
Entering the meeting, leaders lined up to declare the summit’s spending hike as “historic”.
Nato allies say the increase is needed to counter a growing threat from Russia but also to keep Trump engaged, with the US leader long complaining that Europe spends too little on its own defence.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said: “As Europeans, we should realise that our long break from history is over.”
The continent needed to take responsibility for its own security “in a very difficult time”, added De Wever.
‘Totally committed’
Everything was carefully choreographed at the gathering in The Hague to keep the volatile US president on board: from chopping back the official part of the meeting to putting him up overnight in the royal palace.
Trump rattled his allies by appearing to cast some doubt on the validity of Nato’s mutual defence clause – known as Article Five of the alliance treaty – telling reporters on the way to The Hague that it “depends on your definition. There’s numerous definitions of Article Five”.
But Rutte insisted Trump remained “totally committed” to the pledge – which was reaffirmed unequivocally in the summit’s final statement.
Underpinning the leaders’ discussions on defence was Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and in another sop to the demands of allies the US allowed Nato to refer to the “long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security” in the communique.
Though its language was watered down from previous years, the declaration also said allies would continue to support Ukraine “whose security contributes to ours” and could use money from the new spending pledge to fund military aid for Kyiv.
‘Nice guy’
That came as Trump was poised to meet the war-torn country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on the summit sidelines.
Zelensky is playing a less central role here than at previous summits, to avoid a bust-up with Trump after their infamous Oval Office shouting match.
But Trump described him as a “nice guy” and added that he was talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war, saying: “I think progress is being made.”
But despite Rutte’s insistence that Ukraine’s bid for membership remains “irreversible”, Nato’s statement avoided any mention of Kyiv’s push to join after Trump ruled it out.
Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban was more categorical.
“Nato has no business in Ukraine,” he said.
“My job is to keep it as it is.”