THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected an early intelligence assessment that U.S. strikes inflicted only a marginal setback on Iran’s nuclear program, insisting that his country’s spies did not have the full picture and defending his own swift conclusion that American bombs and missiles delivered a crushing blow.
“This was a devastating attack, and it knocked them for a loop,” Trump said as his administration scrambled to support his claims, made only hours after the attack, that Iranian nuclear facilities were “completely and fully obliterated.”
Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military officials would hold an “interesting and irrefutable” news conference Thursday morning to “fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots” who carried out the mission.
He wrote on social media that “these Patriots were very upset” by “Fake News” reports about the limited impact of the strikes.
The issue dominated Trump’s attendance at NATO’s annual summit in the Netherlands, which was otherwise focused on European security. The White House highlighted an Israeli statement that Iran’s nuclear efforts were delayed by years, much longer than the few months determined by American intelligence. A spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry also said the facilities have suffered significant damage.