US Intelligence Assessed Iran Isn’t Building Nukes; Trump Disagreed With Finding

Tulsi Gabbard left no room for doubt when she gave evidence to Congress earlier this year regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions.

According to the national intelligence director, Iran was not developing a nuclear weapon, and its supreme leader had not restarted the suspended programme, despite the country having enriched uranium to higher levels.

Photo Credit: AP/PTI

However, President Donald Trump disregarded the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies during an overnight flight back to Washington, having cut short his visit to the Group of Seven summit to address the intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran, reported AP.

"I don't care what she said," Trump told journalists. In his view, Iran was "very close" to obtaining a nuclear bomb.

Trump's remarks placed him more in alignment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-who has long warned that a nuclear-armed Iran poses an imminent threat-than with his own top intelligence chief.

On Tuesday, Trump convened a meeting in the Situation Room with national security officials, including Gabbard, to consider the next steps.

Officials within the administration played down the apparent divergence between Trump and Gabbard, noting that uranium enrichment could position Iran on a path to producing a nuclear weapon.

Gabbard later blamed the media for misrepresenting her earlier testimony, stating that "President Trump was saying the same thing that I said."

"We are on the same page," she told CNN. When contacted, Gabbard's office referred to these comments.

In her testimony to Congress in March, Gabbard said the intelligence community "continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003."

She also pointed out that the U.S. was carefully monitoring Iran's nuclear activity, noting that its "enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons."

General Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, recently informed Congress that Iran could generate enough nuclear material for ten weapons within three weeks. However, he did not specify how long it would take to assemble a usable bomb.

A senior intelligence official stated that Trump was right to be alarmed, given that Iran's level of uranium enrichment far exceeded what would be necessary for civilian purposes. Another senior administration figure said Iran was as close to acquiring a nuclear weapon "as it could be without having one." Both sources spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Trump's rejection of Gabbard's position echoed past clashes with U.S. intelligence leaders during his first term, when he perceived them as part of a "deep state" working to thwart his agenda. Most notably, he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when asked about interference in the 2016 U.S. election, asserting that Putin was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial."

This latest disagreement over Iran was especially noteworthy, as Trump's second administration has been staffed largely with loyalists rather than traditional establishment figures. Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was narrowly confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate due to her limited experience in intelligence and overseeing large institutions.

Gabbard, who departed from the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed Trump in the previous year's election, appeared before the Senate Appropriations defence subcommittee on Tuesday in a previously scheduled closed-door session regarding the defence budget.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the lead Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee-though not a member of the budget panel-said he was unaware of any new intelligence that would contradict the current assessment of Iran's nuclear capability.

"Director Gabbard stated publicly in March that the Iranians were not actively pursuing a bomb," Warner said. "I've seen nothing in recent intelligence that contradicts what Director Gabbard said."

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that Iran possesses enough enriched uranium to construct multiple nuclear weapons, should it choose to. Tehran, however, maintains that its nuclear programme is strictly for peaceful purposes.

An earlier intelligence report, compiled in November during President Joe Biden's administration, also concluded that Iran "is not building a nuclear weapon."

Nevertheless, the report noted that Iran had "undertaken activities that better position it to produce one, if it so chooses," including stockpiling enriched uranium and deploying more advanced centrifuges. No timeline for building a bomb was included in the report.

Trump has also disagreed with intelligence conclusions on immigration. He invoked the Alien Enemies Act-a wartime law dating back to 1798-to deport Venezuelan migrants, claiming the Tren de Aragua gang was collaborating with the Venezuelan government. Yet, an intelligence report from April found no evidence supporting this claim.

Gabbard dismissed the two senior intelligence officials who had authored the report, asserting that they were removed due to their resistance to Trump's policies.

In response to the controversy, the White House issued a statement from Gabbard in support of Trump.

"President Trump took necessary and historic action to safeguard our nation when he deported these violent Tren de Aragua terrorists," the statement said. "Now that America is safer without these terrorists in our cities, deep state actors have resorted to using their propaganda arm to attack the President's successful policies."