In a rare public rebuke, President Trump dismissed DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s assessment on Iran’s nuclear status, insisting Tehran is ‘very close’ to building a warhead.
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday openly contradicted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s assessment that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon, embracing instead Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s justification for last week’s airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.
In a striking repudiation of his top intelligence official, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, while returning from the G7 summit in Canada, that he believed Iran was “very close” to acquiring a nuclear warhead. The statement came in response to questions about Tehran’s nuclear capabilities.
When told that DNI Gabbard had testified before Congress in March that the U.S. intelligence community had found no active Iranian nuclear weapons program, Trump dismissed her assessment. “I don’t care what she said,” Trump stated. “I think they were very close to having one.”
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman and vocal Trump supporter, had testified that U.S. spy agencies continued to assess that Iran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program, which had been halted in 2003. She also said there was no intelligence suggesting that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had ordered a restart.
The Iranian government has consistently denied it seeks nuclear weapons, asserting that its uranium enrichment is strictly for peaceful energy purposes.
A source familiar with U.S. intelligence briefings confirmed to Reuters that Gabbard’s March testimony remains the current assessment, and that agencies believe it would take Iran up to three years to build a deliverable nuclear warhead. However, some experts argue a crude, untested device could be constructed much faster, albeit with uncertain reliability.
The latest exchange revives memories of Trump’s past clashes with U.S. intelligence agencies, notably his rejection of their findings on Russian interference in the 2016 election, and his public preference for Vladimir Putin’s denials over their conclusions.
In a comment to CNN posted on X (formerly Twitter), Gabbard reiterated that she and Trump were “on the same page” on Iran’s nuclear threat — despite his contrary remarks. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined further comment and referred inquiries to the CNN post.
Critics say Trump’s repeated dismissal of intelligence assessments aligns with his belief in a “deep state” conspiracy, an idea amplified by allies like Gabbard, who has previously echoed such claims without evidence.