Hegseth praises U.S. attack on Iran but offers few details on the strikes' impact
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine held a Thursday (June 26, 2025) morning news conference to respond to an early leaked intelligence report suggesting U.S. strikes against Iran likely put the country back mere months.
President Donald Trump has insisted the U.S. strikes delivered a 'devastating' attack and that questioning his assessment of the strike was not only unpatriotic but also makes the pilots who dropped the bombs 'very upset.'
Drawing reliable conclusions about the impact of the U.S. strikes is difficult only days after they took place.
Trump's fights with the intelligence community
President Trump's fights with the intelligence community were a running theme of his first term as he raged against an investigation into his campaign's alleged links to Russia. Now, a sequel is playing out as Trump battles to shape the public's understanding of his foreign policy gamble in Iran.
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 Mr. 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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
37 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Who leaked Iran strikes assessment? Donald Trump points finger at...
US President Donald Trump on Thursday accused his political opponents of leaking the assessment report by US intelligence, which said that the American military strikes did not fully destroy Iranian nuclear sites. US President Donald Trump returns from the 2025 NATO Summit on June 24, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.(AFP) 'The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran,' the US president posted on his Truth Social network. 'They should be prosecuted!' Last week, the United States joined Israel's offensive against Iran and attacked its nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Israel and the United States claimed that the there facilities were being used by Iran to build an atomic bomb in secret. American B-2 bombers hit two of the nuclear sites with massive GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, while a guided missile submarine struck the third site with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Since then, US President Donald Trump has claimed that the strikes 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had also said that Iran's nuclear ambitions 'have been obliterated.' However, according to a preliminary American intelligence assessment report, leaked to the media, the strikes only set back Iran's nuclear program by months. Two people familiar with the assessment of the strikes had told CNN that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed in the attack. One of the people even said that Iran's centrifuges were largely 'intact.' Also Read | 'Nothing taken out of facility': Donald Trump on US strikes at Iran nuclear sites The Trump administration has insisted that the operation was a total success and berated journalists for reporting on an intelligence assessment that raised doubts about the mission. "Whether it's fake news CNN, MSNBC or the New York Times, there's been fawning coverage of a preliminary assessment," US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said, according to AFP. The document was "leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn't successful," he added.
Time of India
38 minutes ago
- Time of India
Karoline Leavitt Flips Out Over Claims Of US ‘Failure' In Iran Strikes
/ Jun 27, 2025, 01:11AM IST In a combustible press room moment, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt erupted in a searing tirade, torching U.S. media for spreading what she dubbed the 'U.S. strikes failure lie.' Citing a leaked DIA assessment on Iran, reporters questioned Trump's success claims—sparking Leavitt's wrath. She accused the press of 'fueling doubt' and sabotaging national resolve. The briefing spiraled into a volatile clash as Leavitt unleashed fury, defending Trump's narrative and branding media skepticism as a betrayal of American strength.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'Investigate Zohran Mamdani if he concealed...' Rep Andy Ogles writes to DOJ, says his rap lyrics were problematic
GOP leader urged Pam Bondi to launch an investigation into Zohran Mamdani. Amid Republicans' call to deport Zohran Mamdani, the Socialist candidate who won the Democratic primary for the New York mayor election, Congressman Andy Ogles wrote to the Department of Justice seeking an investigation to be launched into Mamdani's citizenship. The Republican leader doubled that Mamdani may have procured US citizenship through "wilful misrepresentation of concealment of material support for terrorism". Indian-Ugandan-origin Zohran K Mamdani became a US Citizen in 2018, 20 years after he arrived in the country along with his parents. In 2020, he was first elected to the New York Assembly and has been holding public office since then, but his win in the primary has now led to a frenzy among Republicans. Citing Mamdani's past career as a rapper, Ogles said he used words like "Free the Holy Land Five/My guys" in his rap, while The Holy Land Foundation was convicted in 2008 for supporting Hamas. — RepOgles (@RepOgles) "While I understand that some may raise First Amendment concerns about taking legal action based on expressive conduct, such as rap lyrics, speech alone does not preclude accountability where it reasonably suggests underlying conduct relevant to eligibility of naturalization," he wrote. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Langenberg: GEERS sucht 700 Testhörer für Hörgeräte ohne Zuzahlung GEERS Undo "If an individual publicly glorifies a group convicted of financing terrorism, it is entirely appropriate for federal authorities to inquire whether the individual engaged in non-public forms of support 00 such as organizational affiliation, fundraising, or advocacy -- that would have required disclosure on Form N-400 or during a naturalization interview." "The naturalization process depends on the good-faith disclosure of any affiliation with, or support for, groups that threaten US national security. If Mr Mamdani concealed relevant associations, that concealment may constitute a material misrepresentation sufficient to support denaturalization under federal law," the Republican leader wrote. Naturalization is the legal process through which a non-citizen becomes a US citizen after being a permanent resident for at least five years on fulfilling certain criteria.
