President Trump said he wants those responsible for leaking the intelligence report on Iran to be prosecuted and suggested the government could take action against reporters to compel them to reveal their sources.
The president’s observations, made during an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo and broadcast on Sunday, come after he and members of his administration sharply criticized media coverage of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s preliminary report on the U.S. strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear sites.
The assessment was highly classified, and the media outlets also failed to include the fact that its initial conclusions were of “low confidence” within the intelligence community.
The assessment also refuted claims by Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine that the targets were “obliterated” by U.S. bunker buster bombs and other munitions.
The DIA report shortly after the strikes claimed that the Iranian programs had only been set back “by months.
In a pre-taped interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said he “suspects” his administration will pursue an investigation and prosecution of anyone found to have leaked the report to the media.
In a Truth Social post, Trump also suggested that the assessment was leaked by Democrats. He added ominously that reporters should be subpoenaed for their sources, saying, “They could find out if they wanted. They could find out easily.”
“You have to do that. I suspect we’ll be doing things like that,” he added.
Trump also railed against the news media in the interview, lamenting the “fake news” coverage and again said that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s initial assessment of the U.S. airstrike concluded that it caused “very significant damage.” An Israeli official told Axios that conducting “a professional battle damage assessment takes time,” while also suggesting that it is far too soon to draw the conclusions found in the DIA report.
“They have guys who go in after the strike, and they said it was total obliteration,” Trump told attendees and reporters at a NATO meeting in The Hague this week.
Trump has also issued a warning that further action would be taken if Iran resumed uranium enrichment, FirstPost reported.
The commander-in-chief added that Israel is currently preparing a full damage assessment and suggested that Iran had no time to relocate any materials from the site before the strike.
He compared the U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, claiming both had a similarly decisive effect in bringing conflict to a halt.
Trump’s rhetoric grew increasingly dramatic over the course of the day, as he dismissed reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran’s 400kg stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium had gone missing, Forbes noted further.
Earlier this week, U.S. Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that the U.S. was uncertain about the whereabouts of the uranium and said the issue would be addressed in upcoming discussions with Iranian officials.
On Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Iran’s nuclear program had sustained significant damage and would require years to rebuild. “Several key nuclear facilities were destroyed,” he said, citing reliable intelligence sources.
Trump also announced a US-Iran meeting is likely to happen next week to discuss Tehran’s nuke program. “We may sign an agreement, or we may not,” he said. “I don’t care if I have an agreement or not.”
Also, the president appeared less certain about a lasting cease-fire and peace between Israel and Iran after announcing earlier in the week that it would last “forever.”
“They’re both tired… but could it start again? Maybe. Maybe soon,” he said, per FirstPost.