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Trump dismisses US spy agencies' assessment on Iran's nuclear program | AP
News
By CHRIS MEGERIAN and DAVID KLEPPER

Updated 10:20 AM PDT, June 17, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tulsi Gabbard left no doubt when she testified to
Congress about Iran's nuclear program earlier this year.

The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers, and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the dormant program even though it had enriched uranium to higher levels.

But President Donald Trump dismissed the assessment of U.S. spy agencies
during an overnight flight back to Washington as he cut short his trip to
the Group of Seven summit to focus on the escalating conflict between
Israel and Iran.

"I don't care what she said," Trump told reporters. In his view, Iran was
"very close" to having a nuclear bomb.

Trump's statement aligned him with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, who has described a nuclear-armed Iran as an imminent threat,
rather than with his own top intelligence adviser. Trump was expected to
meet with national security officials in the Situation Room on Tuesday as
he plans next steps.

Gabbard brushed off the inconsistency, blaming the media for misconstruing
her earlier testimony and asserting that "President Trump was saying the
same thing that I said."

"We are on the same page," she told CNN. Asked for comment, Gabbard's
office referred to those remarks.

In her March testimony to lawmakers, Gabbard said the intelligence
community "continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon
and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program
he suspended in 2003."

She also said the U.S. was closely monitoring Iran's nuclear program,
noting that the country's "enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest
levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons."

Trump's contradiction of Gabbard echoed his feuds with U.S. spy leaders
during his first term, when he viewed them as part of a "deep state" that
was undermining his agenda. Most notably, he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when asked if Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election, saying Putin was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial."

The latest break over Iran was striking because Trump has staffed his
second administration with loyalists rather than establishment figures. Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from
Hawaii, was narrowly confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate because
of her scant experience with intelligence or managing sprawling
organizations.

Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed Trump in last year's election, is expected to testify Tuesday in a closed session on
Capitol Hill, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during a previously scheduled budget hearing.

Both officials likely would face questions about their views on Iran and Trump's latest statements. A representative for the CIA did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned
that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should
it choose to do so. Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful.

An earlier intelligence report, compiled in November under then-President
Joe Biden, a Democrat, also said Iran "is not building a nuclear weapon."

However, it said the country has "undertaken activities that better
position it to produce one, if it so chooses," such as increasing
stockpiles of enriched uranium and operating more advanced centrifuges.
The report did not include any estimates for a timeline for how quickly a
bomb could be built.

Trump's immigration agenda is another place where he's split with
intelligence assessments. He cited the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime
law, to deport Venezuelan migrants, which he justified by claiming that
the Tren de Aragua gang was coordinating with the Venezuelan government. However, an intelligence assessment in April found no evidence of that.

Gabbard fired the two veteran intelligence officers who led the panel that created the assessment, saying they were terminated because of their
opposition to Trump.

In response to those reports, the White House released a statement from
Gabbard supporting the president.

"President Trump took necessary and historic action to safeguard our
nation when he deported these violent Tren de Aragua terrorists," the
statement said. "Now that America is safer without these terrorists in our cities, deep state actors have resorted to using their propaganda arm to
attack the President's successful policies."
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