Trump doubles down on Iran strikes

Daily Mail​

5 hours ago

President Donald Trump closed out his NATO Summit trip in a combative mood, fighting with reporters in his press conference, issuing a bleak warning for Ira n and indicating that United States now needs a 'Secretary of War.' Trump was at The Hague to meet with the 32 members of the alliance, push for an increase in defense spending by those nations, and to discuss global affairs. The president was in fighting mode as he pushed back on a leaked intelligence report that casted doubts on the results of his Iran strike. Over the weekend, Trump authorized the U.S. military to use B-2 bomber planes to drop 30,000 'bunker busters' to 'obliterate' Iran's three largest nuclear sites.
The stealth attack was a large success and Trump touted it as a total 'victory' for the U.S. and its ally Israel against Iran. But days later, CNN and the New York Times published a scathing leaked Pentagon intelligence assessment suggesting the damage from the bombings was limited and Iran may have moved much of its enriched uranium out ahead of the attack. During the NATO press event, Trump also snapped at reporters as he called on them after they brought up the leaked assessment. He grew combative as he fired back that Iran's nuclear capabilities were finished and defended his work trying to end the Ukraine war.
'My whole life, my whole life - that's all I do is make deals,' he said. The president was visibly frustrated with repeated questions about the leaked intelligence assessment that found his strikes against Iran's key nuclear facilities only set the country's program back a few months. Trump spent most of his 24 hours at The Hague complaining about CNN , The New York Times , and other outlets covering the finding from his Pentagon.
He begrudgingly took a question from CNN's Kaitlan Collins during the NATO press conference and used the opportunity to criticize her. 'Fake News, here we go. When you hear this question, should really say how great our soldiers and our warriors are,' he said. 'I think everyone appreciates our soldiers and our warriors,' Collins replied and then went on to ask about the intelligence report findings. Trump told her there has been additional intelligence collected since that assessment came out.
'We've collected additional intelligence. We've also spoken to people have seen the site, and the site is obliterated,' he said. He also argued there have been many after-action reports, pointing to ones that claim Iran's nuclear capabilities took a huge setback. 'There are numerous of those reports, and they're coming out fast and furious,' he said. 'The site was obliterated, just like I said it was, and just like the pilots should be given credit for.' His combative tone continued throughout his press conference.
'Okay, Kelly, go ahead. Here we go. Here's another one. Thank you. We got them all today,' he said as he called NBC's Kelly O'Donnell. 'You should be making them heroes,' he chided her about American troops when she asked about an intelligence assessment. 'You know you should be proud, you especially you should be proud of those pilots, and you shouldn't be trying to demean them,' Trump lectured. 'Let me just tell you, you and NBC, fake news, which is one of the worst, and CNN, New York Times are all bad.'
The sites the United States struck in Iran were buried deep in the ground, leading to questions about how much damage the B-52s could do - even with the multi-ton bombs they dropped. CNN's Wolf Blitzer, appearing on that network after the press conference, pushed back on Trump's claim their reporting disparaged the military. 'I speak as a former Pentagon correspondent, and we appreciate we love the men and women of the United States military who risked their lives to protect all, all of us. And we're not criticizing them at all,' he said.
'The only thing that we were doing was, of course, reporting what the Pentagon's top intelligence agency, the DIA, the defense intelligence agency, said in their preliminary report about the damage that was assessed as a result of this mission. And we reported that fairly and accurately and in detail, and it was not fake news,' he added. The president, meanwhile, was defense in all his comments. When he was asked about his meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, he said negotiations with Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been 'difficult' and pointed to the ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
'Frankly, I had some problems with Zelensky. You may have read about them, and it's been more difficult than other wars. I mean, look, we just ended a war in 12 days that was simmering for 30 years,' he said of his work. But he did note the meeting with Zelensky was 'nice.' 'What I took from the meeting - couldn't have been nicer, actually - but I took from the meeting that he'd like to see it end. I think it's a great time to end it. I'm going to speak to Vladimir Putin see if we can get it ended,' Trump said. The president was in a combative mood from the start.
At the top of his 45 minute press conference, Trump, speaking with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flanking him, hinted the United States needs to get more aggressive in its relationships with the world. 'I have Marco Rubio with me, and Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State and Secretary of War. Should we say secretary? You know, it used to be called Secretary of War,' he said. Originally, the United States had a Department of War until it was remained the Defense Department in 1949. But Trump indicated he may bring the more aggressive moniker back.
'Maybe for a couple of weeks we'll call it that because we feel like warriors,' he said. 'In fact, if you look at the old building next to the White House, you can see where it used to be Secretary of War. Then we became politically correct and they called it Secretary of Defense. I don't know, maybe we'll have to start thinking about changing it, but we feel that way.' Trump also expressed confidence the ceasefire between Israel and Iran will hold because they are 'both tired, exhausted.' 'They have fought a hell of a war, very hard,' Trump said. 'I think the war ended, actually, when we hit the various nuclear sites with planes.'
'I think they've had it. They've been at it for 20 years, and I don't see that happening' he said of a new conflict. 'Now, if it does, we're always there.' He also announced U.S. representatives would meet with Iranian officials next week but then shrugged off the need for any kind of formal agreement on Tehran's nuclear ambitions. 'I don't care if I have an agreement or not,' he said. 'The the only thing we would be asking for is what we were asking for before ... I said Iran will not have no nuclear.' It is unclear what form next week's talks would take, or whether they would be direct or indirect negotiations, or where they will take place.