Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday confirmed that recent reports from CNN and The New York Times, which cite anonymous sources suggesting last week’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites caused only limited damage, are based on selectively chosen portions of the Pentagon’s broader damage assessment.
Both outlets reported that “early U.S. intelligence assessments” indicated the strikes were less effective than initially claimed.
“The analysis of the damage to the sites and the impact of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear ambitions is ongoing, and could change as more intelligence becomes available. But the early findings are at odds with President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the strikes ‘completely and totally obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities,” CNN reported.
The outlets relied on a source reportedly familiar with an early Defense Intelligence Agency assessment. Both outlets reported that the strikes on Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility—targeted with multiple bunker-buster bombs—caused mostly surface-level damage and that the site could be rebuilt relatively quickly.
Gabbard issued her first direct response to the reports, stating that they omitted crucial information and misrepresented other details by taking them out of context — namely that the DIA assessment was based on “low confidence” intelligence.
“New intelligence confirms what [President Trump] has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed. If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do,” Gabbard posted on X.
“The propaganda media has deployed their usual tactic: selectively release portions of illegally leaked classified intelligence assessments (intentionally leaving out the fact that the assessment was written with ‘low confidence’) to try to undermine President Trump’s decisive leadership and the brave servicemen and women who flawlessly executed a truly historic mission to keep the American people safe and secure,” she added in her post.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth specifically addressed the New York Times and CNN during a press conference at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
“These pilots, these refuelers, these fighters, these air defenders. The skill and the courage it took to go into enemy territory flying 36 hours on behalf of the American people and the world to take out a nuclear program. It is beyond what anyone in this audience can fathom,” Hegseth said.
He then singled out the two outlets for following their “instinct” to allegedly challenge the bravery and competence of U.S. service members participating in Operation Midnight Hammer. “Then the instinct of CNN and New York Times is to try to find a way to spin it for their own political reasons to try to hurt President Trump or our country,” he said.
Also Wednesday, Hegseth announced that the FBI was investigating the source of the DIA assessment leak.
“So it was a flawless mission … Any assessment that tells you something otherwise is speculating with other motives. And we know that because when you actually look at the report — by the way, it was a top secret report — it was preliminary, it was low confidence. All right. … And we believe far more likely, severe and obliterated. So this is a political motive here,” he said.
“Of course, we’re doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now because this information is for internal purposes. Battle damage assessments,” Hegseth added. “And CNN and others are trying to spin it to make the president look bad when this was an overwhelming success.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the leaker as an “anonymous, low-level loser” and condemned the unauthorized disclosure.