'For Dignity Of American Pilots': Trump Announces 'Major News Briefing' Over US Strikes In Iran
Donald Trump announced a major Pentagon news conference to defend American pilots after US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, will hold a major news conference at 8 am (US local time), US President Donald Trump has announced, hours after he reiterated his claims of 'obliterating" Iranian nuclear sites during its targeted strikes on June 22.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote that the press conference would be to 'fight for the dignity" of the American pilots.
Trump mentioned that the US pilots were upset after 36 hours of 'dangerously flying" through Iran, and when two days later, they came across 'fake news" questioning the effectiveness of the US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
'Secretary of Defense (War!) Pete Hegseth, together with Military Representatives, will be holding a Major News Conference tomorrow morning at 8 A.M. EST at The Pentagon, in order to fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
'These Patriots were very upset! After 36 hours of dangerously flying through Enemy Territory, they landed, they knew the Success was LEGENDARY, and then, two days later, they started reading Fake News by CNN and The Failing New York Times," he added.
'They felt terribly! Fortunately for them and, as usual, solely for the purpose of demeaning PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, the Fake News (Times and CNN) lied and totally misrepresented the Facts, none of which they had (because it was too soon, there were no Facts out there yet!)," Trump wrote.
'The News Conference will prove both interesting and irrefutable. Enjoy!" he mentioned.
lashed out at media accounts of a classified report that doubted the extent of damage to Iranian nuclear sites.
The US military said it dropped 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, powerful 13,600-kilogram (30,000-pound) weapons, on three Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump has repeatedly said that the attack 'obliterated" Iran's nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordow buried inside a mountain.
However, an initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strike did not destroy key components and that Iran's nuclear program was set back only months at most.
Later, Trump lashed out at the CNN reporter behind the story, taking to his Truth Social platform, to demand that the network fire her.
WHAT EXPERTS SAID
A key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of enriched uranium, which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country.
'I can tell you, the United States had no indication that that enriched uranium was moved prior to the strikes, as I also saw falsely reported," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
'As for what's on the ground right now, it's buried under miles and miles of rubble because of the success of these strikes on Saturday evening," she said.
Vice President JD Vance, asked about the uranium on Sunday, had sounded less definitive and said the United States would discuss the issue with Iran.
The quantity of uranium had been reported by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, with which Iran is considering severing cooperation after the Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear program.
First Published:
June 26, 2025, 07:06 IST
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