Trump Calls Gabbard's Assessment On Iran's Nukes 'Wrong', Says Israeli Strikes 'Hard To Stop’

Last Updated:June 21, 2025, 09:45 IST

Trump's director of intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified in Congress in March that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. However, Trump rejected her assessment.

US President Donald Trump and Director of US National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. (Reuters)

As the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to escalate, US President Donald Trump refuted the assessment of his own director of intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who previously testified in Congress that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, while saying it would be “hard to stop" Israel’s strikes on Iran.

Trump has taken an aggressive stance towards Iran, saying Tehran had two weeks’ time before a possible US strike amid the ongoing conflict with Iran. When asked about Gabbard’s comments to Congress in March that US spy agencies believed that Iran wasn’t working on nuclear warheads, he said, “Well then, my intelligence community is wrong."

“Who in the intelligence community said that?" he said. Informed that it had been Gabbard, Trump said, “She’s wrong."

Israel unleashed a devastating attack on Iran last week under Operation Rising – killing top military leaders and senior nuclear scientists – claiming that Tehran was close to building a nuclear weapon. However, US intelligence assessments suggest that Iran was three years away from building a nuclear bomb.

Trump has frequently disavowed the findings of US intelligence agencies, which he and his supporters have claimed are part of a “deep state" cabal of US officials opposed to his presidency. Gabbard, a fierce Trump loyalist, has been among the president’s backers who have aired such allegations.

Meanwhile, Gabbard said her testimony was taken out of context “as a way to manufacture division." She said, “America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree."

‘Hard To Stop’ Israel: Trump

The conflict between Iran and Israel entered its ninth day as both countries exchanged fire on early Saturday. Trump also said it was very hard to ask Israel to stop its strikes on Iran, while signalling that nuclear talks were still a possibility.

“If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing… Israel’s doing well in terms of war. And, I think, you would say that Iran is doing less well. It’s a little bit hard to get somebody to stop," he said.

Speaking on Iran’s current nuclear programme, he said, “It looked like I’m right about the material that they’ve gathered already. It’s a tremendous amount of material." He also cast doubts that Iran’s nuclear capabilities would be used for civilian purposes.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was close to creating a nuclear weapon. However, Iran has denied developing nuclear weapons, saying its uranium enrichment programme is only for peaceful purposes.

(with inputs from agencies)

Aveek Banerjee

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...Read More

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...

Read More

Location :

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published:

News world Trump Calls Gabbard's Assessment On Iran's Nukes 'Wrong', Says Israeli Strikes 'Hard To Stop’