Trump Contradicts Intel Assessment of US Strikes

President Trump apparently isn't putting much stock into reports that America's bombs dealt a relatively minor setback to Iran's nuclear problem. When asked about the matter at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, Trump countered that Iran's program was likely set back "decades," reports the BBC.

• Trump said Israel has "guys that go in there after ... and they say it was total obliteration," per Haaretz.
• Asked how long the program had been set back, he responded: "Basically decades because I don't think they'll ever do it again." He added that the US would strike again should Iran try to rebuild the sites, but he said that scenario is unlikely because the program is "gone for years, years. Very tough to rebuild because the whole thing has collapsed."

• Trump's comments at the Hague came after details surfaced about a leaked US intelligence report concluding that the US strikes set back Tehran's program by only a few months, per the Wall Street Journal. But Trump cast doubt on the preliminary assessment. "The intelligence says, 'We don't know. It could have been very severe,'" Trump said. "That's what the intelligence says. So I guess that's correct, but I think we can take the 'we don't know it was very significant.' It was obliteration."
• Defense chief Pete Hegseth, seated next to Trump, called the US strikes "flawless" and also downplayed the intel analysis, per the New York Times. "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."
• Trump is expected to have a news conference later Wednesday at the conclusion of the NATO summit.

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