U.S. spies said Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon. Trump dismisses that assessment
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while flying aboard Air Force One en route from Calgary, Canada to Joint Base Andrews, Md., late Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
WASHINGTON — 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 U.S. 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.'
Chris Megerian And David Klepper, The Associated Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
30 minutes ago
- CTV News
Kristi Noem is ‘alert and recovering' after trip to hospital over allergic reaction, official says
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent) WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after experiencing an allergic reaction, her spokeswoman said. 'She is alert and recovering,' said the statement from department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who said the hospital treatment was out of an 'abundance of caution.' Noem, 53, heads a sprawling department with roughly 260,000 employees responsible for immigration enforcement, airport security, disaster response and other responsibilities. She has been among the more high-profile members of President Donald Trump's cabinet, traveling extensively and maintaining a robust social media presence. She is often the public face of his mass deportation effort, frequently goes out on immigration enforcement operations and has appeared in commercials encouraging immigrants in the country illegally to voluntarily leave the country. Before being tapped to head Homeland Security, Noem was a two-term governor of South Dakota, a former member of Congress, and a staunch Trump supporter. She has said that she specifically asked Trump for the Homeland Security portfolio because she knew it dealt with Trump's top priorities. Earlier this year Noem's purse was stolen on Easter Sunday while she was out to dinner with her family. The purse reportedly contained about $3,000 in cash, her keys, driver's license, passport and Homeland Security badge. The Homeland Security Department said Noem had cash in her purse to pay for gifts, dinner and other activities for her family on Easter. A suspect was later arrested in connection with the theft and has been charged in federal court with aggravated identity theft, robbery and fraud. Rebecca Santana And Eric Tucker, The Associated Press
Toronto Star
34 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
First face-to-face between the leaders of US and Mexico will have to wait
MEXICO CITY (AP) — For Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the bilateral meetings scheduled on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada Tuesday were even more important than the summit itself and her first face-to-face dialogue with U.S. President Donald Trump was to headline her trip. But Trump's decision to return to Washington early left a gaping hole in Mexico's schedule and delayed a much anticipated encounter. Sheinbaum had been expected to continue making the case for Mexican strides in security and immigration, while negotiating to lift steel and aluminum tariffs and lobbying to kill a proposed tax on money Mexicans in the U.S. send home. Sheinbaum said on X Tuesday that she had spoken with Trump by phone who explained that he had to return to Washington to stay on top of the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict. 'We agreed to work together to soon reach an agreement on various issues that concern us today,' she wrote. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Sheinbaum was not the only world leader stood up by Trump, but she has developed one of the more intriguing relationships with the unpredictable U.S. president. Trump whisperer Sheinbaum's success at managing the bilateral relationship has been such that some began to wonder aloud if she was a Trump whisperer. Most significantly, she has avoided two tariff threats that could have been devastating to Mexico's economy. She has done it by affording Trump the respect any U.S. president would expect from their neighbor, deploying occasional humor and pushing back — respectfully — when necessary. Jorge Alberto Schiavon Uriegas, a professor in the International Studies department at Mexico's Iberoamerican University, said the first Trump meeting was setting up well for Sheinbaum because it was on neutral territory and it was closed door, unlike some recent Oval Office meetings that have gone poorly for leaders of Ukraine and South Africa. 'It would allow them to advance privately the bilateral agenda or better said, (advance) diplomatically without lights, the main issues of the bilateral agenda,' Schiavon Uriegas said. The bilateral agenda The agenda remains largely unchanged, but with a rearrangement of priorities for both countries. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The decline in cross-border migration has removed the issue from the top agenda for the first time in years. On security, Sheinbaum has blunted some of the Trump administration's tough talk on fentanyl and organized crime by more actively pursuing drug cartels. In February, Mexico sent more than two dozen drug cartel figures to the U.S., including Rafael Caro Quintero, long sought in the 1985 killing of a DEA agent. That show of goodwill, and a much more visible effort against fentanyl production, has garnered a positive response from the Trump administration. 'I think there is going to be greater (security) cooperation than ever,' U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told reporters Monday, after returning from a visit with Sheinbaum. The threat to remittance income, whether through a proposed tax or increased deportations, is real for Mexico. Nearly $65 billion was sent home to Mexico last year, so it was news earlier this month when Mexico reported that remittances were down 12% in April compared with the same month last year, the largest drop in more than a decade. Sheinbaum suggested it could be related to Trump administration immigration policies. Mexico re-enters the world stage Sheinbaum's attendance alone signals an important prioritization of foreign policy for Mexico after six years in which her predecessor, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, repeatedly skipped multilateral gatherings like the G7. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'It allows Mexico to reposition itself in the most important spaces of dialogue and coordination at a global level,' Schiavon Uriegas said. Michael Shifter, adjunct professor of Latin American Politics at Georgetown University, said that while the canceled Trump meeting was a loss, Sheinbaum's other bilateral meetings with leaders from India, Germany and Canada should not be discounted. 'Mexico is in a moment of looking for and diversifying allies,' Shifter said. Still, an in-person Trump meeting — whenever it happens — will be key for Sheinbaum. While her top Cabinet secretaries have made numerous trips to Washington to discuss security and trade with their U.S. counterparts, Trump is the one who counts. 'At the end of the day, there's only one person who makes decisions here,' Shifter said. 'You can't be sure and trust in anything until President Trump decides.' ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Calgary Herald
35 minutes ago
- Calgary Herald
Bearspaw chief said G7 was a step in the right direction after meeting with Mark Carney
This year's G7 summit did a better job of including First Nations representation than the last time Canada acted as host, one Indigenous leader said Tuesday, but there is still room for improvement. Article content Chief Darcy Dixon of the Bearspaw First Nation was among the group of Treaty 7 chiefs who greeted world leaders as they arrived for the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, and also met with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday. Article content Article content Article content At the 2002 G8 summit also hosted in Kananaskis, Treaty 7 chiefs were invited to greet world leaders but were excluded from the meetings. Dixon said a step has been made in the right direction, but there's still progress to be made. Article content 'We need to be at the front, especially in our territory, our lands,' he said. 'Even having a few more minutes to meet with the prime minister and even with some of the world leaders — I'm sure they would like to meet with First Nations here. Article content Article content 'I know everybody's busy, right? That's the thing. Everybody's schedule is so tight.' Article content Dixon was also chief during the 2002 summit, and said he enjoyed the experience of greeting world leaders on both occasions. Article content 'It's always a privilege to greet different nations here in Canada, but more importantly, on our ancestral lands here in Canada,' he said. Article content Article content 'They were asking questions and wanting to take pictures and, you know, where was I from?' he said. 'I tried to explain to them where the Nakoda nations, Bearspaw nations, were from.' Article content Sunday's meeting with Carney was a little more than an hour long, Dixon said. Article content 'It doesn't give us much time to talk about some of the stronger issues,' he said. The meeting gave Treaty 7 chiefs an opportunity to get to know Carney and hear some of his ideas, which included making Canada 'an economic force,' Dixon said.
