Trump and Hegseth Are Melting Down Over Leaked Iran Strike Intel
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Trump and Hegseth Are Melting Down Over Leaked Iran Strike Intel
CNN and The New York Times both reported on the government’s preliminary information about the efficacy of the attacks on Tuesday. Trump has spent the past few days incessantly attacking the outlets while repeatedly insisting that strikes “obliterated” Iran”s nuclear capabilities. Hegseth berated the media today alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine. “How many stories have been written about how hard it is to fly a plane for 36 hours?” a visibly enraged Heg seth asked the congregated press, referring to the mission to bomb the Iranian nuclear sites, which he described as “the most complex and secretive military operation in history.” “Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most, intentionally, what the president said,” he said. Donald Trump is not happy over the Pentagon intelligence that found the strikes against Iran over the weekend were not as damaging as the president and his administration have been claiming.
The details of the intelligence report — which found that the strikes only partially damaged their targets and likely only set back Iran’s nuclear program a few months — went public as Trump was attending a NATO summit in the Netherlands, and his comments at the meeting of the allied nations largely revolved around the Iran strikes and how “disgusting” and “horrible” the media is for reporting on the government’s early findings about what happened. Trump’s Truth Social account has meanwhile been rife with all-caps attacks against CNN and the Times, as well as calls for everyone involved to be fired. “FAKE NEWS REPORTERS FROM CNN & THE NEW YORK TIMES SHOULD BE FIRED, IMMEDIATELY!!! BAD PEOPLE WITH EVIL INTENTIONS!!!” he wrote this morning.
Trump also used Truth Social to tease an early-morning press conference from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who berated the media today alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine. “How many stories have been written about how hard it is to fly a plane for 36 hours?” a visibly enraged Hegseth asked the congregated press, referring to the mission to bomb the Iranian nuclear sites, which he described as “the most complex and secretive military operation in history.”
“How about we celebrate that?” Hegseth continued in his screed about the media’s coverage of the strikes. “How about we talk about how successful America is, that only we have these capabilities? I think it’s too much to ask, unfortunately, for the fake news.” Editor’s picks
Hegseth even went after one of his former colleagues, Jennifer Griffin of Fox News, who asked about the administration’s confidence that Iran did not preemptively move uranium from the sites of the strikes, which the Pentagon’s preliminary report indicated was likely. “Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most, intentionally, what the president said,” he said.
The chaotic scene today at the Pentagon, and on Trump’s Truth Social feed, is part of an administration-wide effort to defend the strikes, discredit the leaked intelligence report, and inflate the president’s ego while chastising or threatening those casting the strikes as anything short of a historic success.
The president has been especially sensitive about the prospect of Iran having moved uranium ahead of the strikes. In recent days, a person with direct knowledge of the situation tells Rolling Stone that the president has been sensitive about any reporting suggesting stockpiles had been moved, in part because Trump essentially tipped off the Iranians by teasing that the U.S. could take action. “It really pisses him off when people say that,” this source says, noting that would undermine Trump’s assertion of how “perfectly” this operation was conducted.
Trump claimed on Truth Social as Hegseth berated the media today that “nothing was taken out of the facility” and that the trucks appearing on satellite imaging ahead of the strikes “were those of concrete workers.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and other top officials have leapt to Trump’s defense in response to the leaked report — but Hegseth may be the tip of the spear.
One Trump adviser tells Rolling Stone that they chuckled at the former Fox News host’s seemingly prepared line about how Trump’s bombing operation was “the most complex and secretive military operation” ever — or, in this source’s paraphrase, even “better than D-Day.” Related Content
This adviser says it immediately reminded them of former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s much-ridiculed declaration that Trump’s first 2017 inauguration had “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.”
Trump has joined Hegseth in pushing absurd exaggerations about the efficacy of the strikes, and, not surprisingly given that the intelligence report did not parrot the president’s talking points, the current propaganda blitz is accompanied by yet another one of Trump’s sprawling leak crackdowns. As Rolling Stone first reported, the leak of classified material to outlets such as CNN and The New York Times quickly triggered a particularly aggressive investigation, with Trump and other senior administration officials fuming that this could have happened.
The leak hunt was launched concurrently with the Trump team’s broader clampdown on intelligence and sensitive information. Staff at the Pentagon and elsewhere in the federal government were personally warned by superiors that if they had anything to do with this disclosure to the media, they could be facing serious prison time, two sources with knowledge of the matter say.
Additionally, Trump lieutenants moved to put an even tighter stranglehold on the amount of classified information it shares with Congress. “We are declaring a war on leakers,” one senior White House official told Axios. Leavitt said Wednesday that “the FBI is investigating who was the source of that leak because it’s an illegal leak to CNN.” Trending Stories Scarlett Johansson Responds to Viral Red-Carpet Kisses With Jonathan Bailey: ‘We’re Friendly People’ Laura Loomer Demands Trump Charge Mamdani Over Made-Up Terrorism Claim Sabrina Carpenter Shares Alternate Album Cover ‘Approved by God’ for the Meltdown Crowd ‘M3GAN 2.0’ Is Exactly 0.0 Percent Watchable
It’s still too soon to know the reality of the operation’s effectiveness. Caine was asked about this uncertainty during the press conference with Hegseth today. “General, on Sunday you said final battle damage will take some time … and it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there,” a reporter began before asking Caine, “What has changed? Would you use the term ‘obliterated,’ as well?”
Caine began to answer before Hegseth cut in and started attacking the media’s “irresponsible” coverage of the operation.
Iran’s Khamenei mocks Trump’s “exaggerated” bombing claims and declares victory
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said US President Donald Trump “exaggerated” the impact of US strikes on nuclear sites in the country. In his first appearance since a ceasefire with Israel took effect, he hailed his country’s “victory” and vowed never to surrender to the US. Khamenei claimed that Washington had been dealt a “slap” after striking Iranian nuclear sites.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (r.) mocked US President Donald Trump for overstating the results of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. © Collage: REUTERS
In his first appearance since a ceasefire with Israel took effect, he hailed his country’s “victory” and vowed never to surrender to the US, while claiming that Washington had been dealt a “slap” after striking Iranian nuclear sites.
The remarks came amid growing doubts over the actual extent of the damage inflicted by American strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites during the war launched without provocation by Israel.
“The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration,” Khamenei said.
The US “has gained nothing from this war,” he said, adding that Sunday’s strikes “did nothing significant” to Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“The Islamic republic won, and in retaliation dealt a severe slap to the face of America,” he said, a reference to Iran’s missile launch targeting the largest US base in the Middle East.
“I want to congratulate the great Iranian nation… for its victory over the fallacious Zionist regime,” he added, claiming that Israel had “almost collapsed” because of Iran’s strikes.
Both Iran and Israel had already claimed they won, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailing on Tuesday a “historic victory” for Israel.
Trump’s latest rejection of intelligence assessments reflects a long distrust of spy agencies
President Donald Trump has a history of distrusting the intelligence community. A new intelligence assessment says Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months. Trump has rejected the report and pronounced the program “completely and fully obliterated’ The White House plans to limit the sharing of classified information after the initial assessment leaked this week. The dispute is unlikely to fade anytime soon, a senior intelligence official says. The president has tapped loyalists to lead America’s intelligence services in his second term, but there have already been conflicts with the CIA and National Security Council. The intelligence community says it is committed to producing data-driven and apolitical judgments. The U.S. intelligence community has said it will continue to work with the White House on national security issues, but not on foreign policy issues, a U.N. official said. The CIA said it is “committed to providing the president with the best information possible” about threats to the United States and its allies in the Middle East.
An early U.S. intelligence assessment said Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months after American strikes on three sites last weekend. The Republican president has rejected the report and pronounced the program “completely and fully obliterated.”
The dispute is unlikely to fade anytime soon. Top administration officials are pressing Trump’s case, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth scolding the media at a Pentagon briefing Thursday for “breathlessly” focusing on an intelligence report he downplayed as preliminary. Briefings also are scheduled for lawmakers, though the White House plans to limit the sharing of classified information after the initial assessment leaked this week.
“Intelligence people strive to live in a world as it is, describe the world as it is, where politicians are all about describing the world as they want it to be,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a 32-year intelligence veteran who held positions including CIA chief of staff and senior director of the White House Situation Room.
Though it’s hardly unheard of for presidents to bristle at what they perceive as bad news from the intelligence community, it’s rare for the conflict to spill into public view as it did this week.
“I don’t think we’ve seen another president push back as strong as this guy has,” Pfeiffer said.
Trump has a history of distrusting spy services
Trump’s suspicion of the intelligence community, particularly when its assessments do not align with his worldview, dates back to even before his first term.
His 2016 campaign was shadowed by an investigation into whether his team had coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the election.
He was so infuriated by the scrutiny over a dossier of unverified and salacious claims connecting him to Russia that, one week before he was sworn in, he tweeted: “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to ‘leak’ into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?”
Trump disputed the assessment that Russia had interfered in the election on his behalf, decrying as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, which ultimately concluded the Trump campaign had welcomed Moscow’s help but did not find sufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy.
Trump also openly challenged the judgment of his intelligence agencies alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Helsinki summit in 2018.
“I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said. “He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Such public protestation takes its toll on an intelligence community that historically has endeavored to produce data-driven and apolitical judgments, said Frank Montoya Jr., a former FBI supervisor who served as director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.
“When you get this kind of unfounded criticism, especially from the policymaker in chief, it just destroys morale,” he said.
Tensions with the intelligence community persist
Trump tapped loyalists to lead America’s intelligence services in his second term — Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and John Ratcliffe as CIA director. They promised to end what they said was the weaponization of intelligence and root out disloyal officers.
But there have already been conflicts.
Last month, the National Intelligence Council declassified a memo in response to an open records request that said American spy agencies found no coordination between the Venezuelan government and the Tren de Aragua gang, contradicting statements the Trump administration used to justify invoking the Alien Enemies Act and deporting Venezuelan immigrants.
Gabbard later fired the two veteran intelligence officers who led the council because of their perceived opposition to Trump.
More trouble came after the war between Israel and Iran began nearly two weeks ago.
Trump dismissed Gabbard’s testimony to Congress in March that U.S. spy agencies did not believe Iran was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon. Trump insisted Iran was very close.
“I don’t care what she said,” he told reporters last week.
Gabbard later accused the news media of mischaracterizing her testimony, noting that she had mentioned Iran’s large stockpile of enriched uranium that goes beyond levels needed for civilian uses.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program was peaceful, though the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that Tehran has enough highly enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chooses.
A preliminary report from the Defense Intelligence Agency that emerged this week said that while the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities did significant damage, the facilities were not totally destroyed and the program was only set back by a few months.
The White House called the assessment “flat-out wrong.” The DIA said the initial findings will be refined as new information becomes available.
Given Trump’s skeptical view of intelligence officials, Pfeiffer said, “his initial instinct is to assume that if the intelligence community is telling him something different than he would like it to be, that it’s because they’re trying to undermine him.”
Trump team says there’s no conflict
Gabbard and Ratcliffe have sought to brush off any perceived conflict between their agencies and Trump. Ratcliffe said Wednesday that new intelligence from a “historically reliable and accurate” source reveals that U.S. strikes “destroyed” several of Iran’s nuclear facilities that would require years to be rebuilt.
“CIA continues to collect additional reliably sourced information to keep appropriate decision-makers and oversight bodies fully informed,” Ratcliffe said in a statement. “When possible, we will also provide updates and information to the American public, given the national importance of this matter and in every attempt to provide transparency.”
Gabbard noted the DIA assessment was of “low confidence,” an acknowledgment by its authors that their conclusions could be mistaken.
Trump narrated his own intelligence assessment while attending the NATO summit in the Netherlands. He mentioned satellite images showing the area around nuclear facilities “burned black” and said the underground tunnels had “collapsed.” He also suggested Israel had sources on the ground in Iran to evaluate the damage.
The White House pointed to an Israel Atomic Energy Commission assessment that the U.S. and Israeli strikes have “set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years.”
Assessing the US strike will take time
Intelligence officers routinely craft assessments about global threats and specific incidents — information vital to the decision-making of national security officials and lawmakers. Assessments are regularly updated as new intelligence is produced from sources including field agents, informants, open source material and secret surveillance.
The work is secretive to protect the methods and sources of intelligence agencies and to avoid becoming a political football.
Former intelligence officials said it’s likely to take days, weeks, or even months to form a full picture of the impact of the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“I would call for patience,” said John Negroponte, a former ambassador who served as the first director of national intelligence under President George W. Bush. “Avoid the temptation to rush to judgment.”
___
Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
Hegseth slams media over leaked Iran damage assessment
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slams the media, which he said was “irresponsible” in their reporting. The White House is doubling down on its claims that the strikes obliterated Iran’s nuclear program. The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman detailed the Iranian missile attacks on Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Sen. Chuck Schumer said the pair of top Trump officials would provide a “woefully insufficient’ briefing on the operation, saying they will only parrot whatever the president wants them to say. The president and his top defense official have claimed coverage of the report disparaged U.S. military personnel involved in the attacks. The report did not take aim at military personnel — it simply outlined what worked, and what didn’t, in the airstrikes. The DIA called its report a � “preliminary, low confidence assessment” and clarified officials “have still not been able to review the actual physical sites themselves.” The report was leaked because “someone had an agenda to try and muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn”t successful,” the defense secretary said.
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(NewsNation) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went on the offensive Thursday over a leaked intelligence report contradicting the White House’s claims about damage caused by U.S. strikes in Iran.
During a news briefing, Hegseth discussed a preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency that said the strikes set back Iran by only a few months — despite President Donald Trump’s claims that “Operation Midnight Hammer” obliterated Iran’s nuclear program.
Hegseth slammed the media, which he said was “irresponsible” in their reporting while working against the Trump administration’s success.
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Hegseth: Iran damage report meant to downplay military success
Hegseth told reporters Thursday he believes the report was leaked because “someone had an agenda to try and muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful.”
In a statement to NewsNation, the DIA called its report a “preliminary, low confidence assessment” and clarified officials “have still not been able to review the actual physical sites themselves, which will give us the best indication.”
Trump has blasted CNN, the New York Times and other outlets as “fake news” for reporting on the assessment, a sentiment Hegseth echoed during Thursday’s news briefing.
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The president and his top defense official have claimed coverage of the report disparaged U.S. military personnel involved in the attacks.
The DIA report did not take aim at military personnel — it simply outlined what worked, and what didn’t, in the airstrikes.
Still, the administration is doubling down.
“There was a total and complete obliteration of Iran’s nuclear facilities,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “And because of the president’s strike, because of the precision of our United States military and this perfectly executed mission, Iran no longer has the capability to produce a nuclear weapon as imminently as they did prior to the strike.”
Military official describes Iranian missile attack on US base
At Thursday’s briefing, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, detailed the Iranian missile attacks on Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
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He said roughly 44 American service members responsible for defending the base were present when rounds of Patriot missiles were launched.
Former Special Forces operators blast Iran bombing assessment leak
Caine said Qatar joined in the defense of what he called the largest single patriot engagement in U.S. military history.
Upon returning to base, Caine said, “There were a lot of flags and a lot of tears.”
Trump praises Hegseth’s news conference
Minutes after the event finished, Trump took to Truth Social to praise Hegseth and Caine for their addresses.
“One of the greatest, most professional, and most ‘confirming’ News Conferences I have ever seen! The Fake News should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt, and apologize to our great warriors, and everyone else!” Trump wrote in a post.
Senate to hold classified briefing on Iran attacks
Senators are scheduled to receive a classified briefing Thursday afternoon about the operation.
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“Now, they’re trying to get away with sending only the secretary of state and defense … instead of the usual intelligence officials who attend the briefings,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., regarding the briefing.
Schumer said the pair of top Trump officials would provide a “woefully insufficient” briefing.
“If they are the only ones in attendance, they will only parrot whatever the president wants them to say,” he said.
Senior officials from the CIA and National Intelligence have said new intelligence shows the strikes did far more damage than originally reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Hegseth defends Iran strikes, slams media over intel leak
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at the press at a Thursday morning press conference. He called the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program a “resounding success” But he blasted the media for reporting on early intelligence assessments suggesting the strikes may not have fully destroyed Iran’s enrichment facilities. The White House has launched an investigation into how the classified assessment reached the press. The Joint Chiefs Chair delivered a more measured, lengthy walk-through of the operation, describing the years of planning, bunker buster development and intelligence gathering by the Pentagon’s lesser-known Defense Threat Reduction Agency. “This was the brightest explosion that I’ve ever seen. It literally looked like daylight,” Gen. Dan Caine said, quoting one of the pilots involved in the mission. The mission involved seven B-2 stealth aircraft and a guided missile submarine, and marked the first combat use ever of the 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker busting bomb, with 14 dropped on the Fordo facility.
Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor, used a Thursday morning press conference to deliver a blistering and extended attack on the press, lashing out at CNN, The New York Times and other outlets. In his rebuke, he accused them of distorting a preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency report that suggested the strikes only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months, and blasted them for what he framed as a bias against President Donald Trump.
“Because you cheer against Trump so hard — in your DNA and in your blood, cheer against Trump — because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,” Hegseth chided reporters at a Pentagon briefing. “You have to hope maybe they weren’t effective.”
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“Whether it’s fake news CNN, MSNBC or The New York Times, there’s been fawning coverage of a preliminary assessment,” Hegseth said. “I’ve had a chance to read it. Every outlet has breathlessly reported on a preliminary assessment.”
Hegseth echoed Trump’s claim that the mission resulted in a “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear program and framed questions about the outcome of the strikes as an affront to the pilots who carried them out. “We should celebrate it as Americans,” Hegseth said. “Choose your word: destroyed, defeated, obliterated.”
Preliminary intelligence reportedly concluded that core components of Iran’s nuclear program remain intact and that its uranium stockpile was moved before the strike. Hegseth didn’t directly rebut any of its conclusions but noted that it had been labeled “low confidence” and that the press had exaggerated its significance.
The White House has launched an investigation into how the classified assessment reached the press, with Hegseth confirming that the Pentagon and FBI are probing the breach. Hegseth said the report had been “leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful.”
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Hegseth, whose tenure has been saddled with multiple controversies, has had cold relations with the press. He has sharply limited media access inside the Pentagon, upending decades of precedent by confining reporters to designated areas and restricting unescorted movement.
The U.S. launched Operation Midnight Hammer late Saturday, targeting several of Iran’s key nuclear sites with the aim of neutralizing Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon. The mission involved seven B-2 stealth aircraft and a guided missile submarine, and marked the first combat use ever of the 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker busting bomb, with 14 dropped on the Fordo facility and other sites.
Contrasting with Hegseth’s confrontational approach during the briefing, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine delivered a more measured, lengthy walk-through of the operation, describing the years of planning, bunker buster development and intelligence gathering by the Pentagon’s lesser-known Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which tracked Fordo’s construction over 15 years.
“This was the brightest explosion that I’ve ever seen. It literally looked like daylight,” Caine said, quoting one of the pilots involved in the mission.
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While Caine deferred questions on the final damage assessments to the intelligence community, he said the weapons worked as intended and praised the troops involved in planning and carrying out the attack, as well as the defense of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar from Iranian missile attacks this week in response.
Asked if he’d been pressured by Trump or other administration officials to make a more optimistic public appraisal of the attacks, Caine said he hadn’t. Caine had said at a separate post-strike press conference on Sunday that initial reviews found “extremely severe damage and destruction.”
“I’ve never been pressured by the president or the secretary to do anything other than tell them exactly what I’m thinking,” Caine said Thursday.
Two of Trump’s top intelligence chiefs issued statements on Wednesday claiming that new intelligence indicates Iran’s nuclear facilities were “destroyed” in U.S. airstrikes over the weekend. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted on X that “New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed.”
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The Senate is scheduled to receive a classified briefing on Iran this afternoon, with the House to follow on Friday. Lawmakers in both parties have voiced frustration over the lack of prior consultation from the administration with them before striking. Democrats have claimed that the administration is manipulating the intelligence to fit its narrative.
“This is part of the Trump reality distortion field,” House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Wednesday on CNN. “He says, look, it’s all done, we dropped one bomb, and in one day, peace in the Middle East has been achieved, all good. … But the facts aren’t really that hard to suss out here. It is pretty clear that one bombing campaign was not going to obliterate or destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”
Hegseth, just back from the NATO summit in The Hague with Trump, also used the Pentagon briefing to highlight what he called a “game-changing and historic” achievement of the alliance agreeing to ramp up defense spending to 5 percent of their GDPs. He said the moment was overshadowed by the media’s focus on controversy.