White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out after CNN and other outlets reported that an early intelligence assessment concluded that the U.S. strikes on Iran did not fully destroy the country’s nuclear program and likely set it back by only a few months.
CNN, citing four sources briefed on the intelligence, was the first to report on it Tuesday. Their report was quickly followed by other news outlets, including The New York Times, ABC News, the Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News.
In a post on X, Leavitt wrote that ‘fake news CNN strikes again.” But she appeared to confirm the assessment, writing that it was “flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community. The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
Trump has lashed out at news organizations in the aftermath of the U.S. bombings, as some outlets have featured stories and commentators skeptical of the effectiveness of the strikes. Trump has insisted that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated.”
The assessment comes from a report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, with CNN reporting that the assessment also concluded that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed.
Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, which started earlier today.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Both Israel and Iran wanted to stop the War, equally! It was my great honor to Destroy All Nuclear facilities & capability, and then, STOP THE WAR!”
Speaking to reporters before he left for the Netherlands, where the summit is taking place, he attacked CNN and other news outlets that had reported on doubts about the extent of the damage.
Trump said that CNN was “scum, and so is MSDNC. They’re all, and frankly, the networks aren’t much better. It’s all fake news. They should not have done that. These pilots hit their targets, those targets were obliterated, and the pilots should be given credit.”
“I think CNN is a gutless group of people,” Trump said. “And the people that run it, no one even knows this because it’s been sold so many times, but the people that run it ought to be ashamed.”
On Capitol Hill, Democrats noted that the White House had cancelled a planned Tuesday classified briefing for lawmakers. It will not be held later in the week.
“If the press reporting about the impact of last weekend’s strikes in Iran is true – and I cannot confirm them – then that might be the reason why the administration postponed our classified briefing today, at the very last minute, and deprived senators of their right to know what’s happening,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.