Tag Archives: Defense Intelligence Agency

Mediaite: WATCH: Trump Suggests He’ll Pressure CNN/NYT Reporters to Give Up Their Sources On Iran Strike Stories — And Then Prosecute the Leakers

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President Donald Trump is suggesting his administration will pressure reporters into giving up sources on their recent stories on the impact of the military strike on Iran — and then potentially prosecuting those sources.

In an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, anchor Maria Bartiromo asked Trump about a social media post on Thursday in which he wrote: “The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted!”

“They should be prosecuted,” Trump said again — in the Fox News interview which was taped on Friday and aired on Sunday.

“Who specifically?” Bartiromo asked.

“You can find out,” Trump said. “If they wanted, they could find out easily.”

The president has repeatedly come down on CNN and The New York Times in recent days for breaking stories on the impact of last Saturday’s attack on Iran — even threatening to sue them over reporting he has called “unpatriotic.” Both outlets reported on preliminary intelligence assessments which found that the damage of the strikes were far less than the president claimed.

Trump has repeatedly insisted three Iranian nuclear sites were “obliterated.” The preliminary intelligence assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency said the bombings only set Iran’s nuclear program back a few months.

Trump went on to explain how he would go about finding out the leakers.

“You go up and tell the reporter, ‘national security, who gave it?’” Trump said. “You have to do that. And I suspect we’ll be doing things like that.”

And I suspect the media response will be, “Go fuck yourself.” Trump was publicly applauding himself as the great victor and strategist, when in fact the bombings that he ordered were an abysmal flop.

MSNBC: Pete Hegseth’s unhinged press conference shows how the Trump administration views the media’s job

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was in full crybully mode during a Thursday news conference that, according to a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump, was intended “to fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots” and provide “interesting and irrefutable” evidence of the “LEGENDARY” success of last week’s unilateral U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

But Hegseth didn’t provide definitive evidence of the actual extent of the damage inflicted on those facilities by 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs — or clarity on whether Iran pre-emptively moved its stash of weapons-grade uranium. Instead, the secretary complained that certain media outlets failed to act as unquestioning cheerleaders of a stunning act of aggression against a longtime U.S. adversary — an attack that the president had immediately declared an unequivocal success.

The 42-minute press conference was a useful distillation of the Trump administration’s posture vis-à-vis news coverage: playing the pure-as-driven-snow victim while lashing out in thuggish fashion.

Hegseth insisted the attack was successful in “decimating — choose your word — obliterating, destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities.” He blasted the press for reporting on a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, which asserted that the U.S. attack may have only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months.

Pete Hegseth’s unhinged press conference shows how the Trump administration views the media’s job
Hegseth threw a tantrum and Trump threatened lawsuits — because news outlets reported on a government intelligence report on Iran’s nuclear sites.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pete-hegseth-s-unhinged-press-conference-shows-how-the-trump-administration-views-the-media-s-job/ar-AA1HCXQe

CNN: US did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran’s nuclear sites, top general tells lawmakers, citing depth of the target

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The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran’s largest nuclear sites last weekend because the site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US’ top general told senators during a briefing on Thursday.

The comment by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, which was described by three people who heard his remarks and a fourth who was briefed on them, is the first known explanation given for why the US military did not use the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb against the Isfahan site in central Iran. US officials believe Isfahan’s underground structures house nearly 60% of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which Iran would need in order to ever produce a nuclear weapon.

US B2 bombers dropped over a dozen bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites. But Isfahan was only struck by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine.

So what we heard from King Donald was largely lies and hot air — par for the course.

US’ top general tells lawmakers | CNN Politics
The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran’s largest nuclear sites last weekend because the site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US’ top general told senators during a briefing on Thursday.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/politics/bunker-buster-bomb-isfahan-iran

Independent: Pete Hegseth holding Pentagon press conference to celebrate ‘very upset’ B-2 pilots involved in Iran raid

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President Donald Trump says defense secretary will speak up ‘for the dignity of our great American pilots’ after feud with media over extent of bomb damage continues

“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,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday evening.

“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. 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!). The News Conference will prove both interesting and irrefutable. Enjoy!”

That was the hype from Hegseth & his cronies. The mission really was a dud, one big ugly wasted effort, as multiple leaks have now confirmed.

Condolences to the pilots, perhaps next time you’ll have some competent leadership, or perhaps not …

Pete Hegseth holding Pentagon press conference to celebrate ‘very upset’ B-2 pilots
President Donald Trump says defense secretary will speak up ‘for the dignity of our great American pilots’ after feud with media over extent of bomb damage continues

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hegseth-press-conference-trump-iran-b2777289.html

Guardian: Trump and Hegseth admit doubts about level of damage to Iranian nuclear sites

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President calls intelligence ‘inconclusive’, while defence secretary describes harm to facilities as ‘moderate to severe’

Donald Trump and the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, have admitted to some doubt over the scale of the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear sites by the US bombing at the weekend, after a leaked Pentagon assessment said the Iranian programme had been set back by only a few months.

“The intelligence was very inconclusive,” Trump told journalists at a Nato summit in The Hague, introducing an element of uncertainty for the first time after several days of emphatic declarations that the destruction had been total.

“The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.”

The president then appeared to revert to his claim that “it was very severe. There was obliteration”. Later in the day, he claimed that was the conclusion from “collected intelligence”, and that the Iranian programme had been set back “decades”.

Trump also likened the US use of massive bunker-buster bombs on the Fordow and Natanz uranium enrichment sites to the impact of the US nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the second world war, using the comparison specifically in reference to their impact in ending a conflict.

Over the course of the day, Trump’s claims became more far-reaching, even rejecting reports from the nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that Iran’s 400kg stock of 60% enriched uranium could no longer be accounted for, and appeared to have been moved.

Despite all the huffing and puffing, the bombings were pretty much a flop.

Trump and Hegseth admit doubts about level of damage to Iranian nuclear sites
President calls intelligence ‘inconclusive’ while defence secretary describes harm to facilities as ‘moderate to severe’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/25/trump-and-hegseth-admit-doubts-over-irans-nuclear-sites-damage-by-us-strikes