Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laid into CNN and The New York Times on Wednesday for their reporting that indicated the U.S. strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend were only marginally successful.
CNN reported that the air strikes on three nuclear facilities “likely only set it back by months, according to an early U.S. intelligence assessment that was described by seven people briefed on it.”
“The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by U.S. Central Command in the aftermath of the U.S. strikes, one of the sources said,” according to CNN.
Further, the outlet said based on its unnamed sources that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed and its centrifuges are largely intact.
CNN hedged by saying that the analysis is ongoing and “could change as more intelligence becomes available.”
The Times also reported, based on unnamed sources regarding the intelligence assessment, that the B-2 bomber attacks only set Iran’s nuclear weapons program back “a few months.”
“The strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings, the officials said the early findings concluded,” according to the outlet.
Hegseth addressed the reporting during a news conference following a NATO meeting at The Hague in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
“There’s a reason the president calls out fake news for what it is,” Hegseth said after President Donald Trump stepped aside to let him take the question.
Are you glad Trump chose Hegseth for Secretary of Defense?
“The instinct of CNN, the instinct of The 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 continued.
OMG
Sec. of Def Pete Hegseth just OBLITERATED the fake news on the Iran bomb report
“Why is there ‘low confidence’? Because all of the evidence of what was just bombed by twelve 30lb bombs, is BURIED UNDER A MOUNTAIN!..So if you want to make an ‘assessment of what happened at… pic.twitter.com/nGansdHxsg
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 25, 2025
“They don’t care what the troops think. They don’t care what the world thinks. They want to spin it to try to make him look bad, based on a leak,” Hegseth said.
The official went on to argue that leakers have agendas. “Do they share the whole information or just the part that they want to introduce?” he asked.
Hegseth noted that the preliminary intelligence assessment was of low confidence.
“Why is there low confidence? Because all of the evidence of what was just bombed by twelve 30,000-pound bombs is buried under a mountain, devastated and obliterated,” he said.
“So if you want to make an assessment of what happened at Fordow, you better get a big shovel and go really deep, because Iran’s nuclear program is obliterated,” Hegseth asserted.
He concluded, “You know who else knows? Iran, and that’s why they came to the table right away. Because their nuclear capabilities have been set back beyond what they thought was possible because of the courage of a commander-in-chief who led our troops despite what the fake news wants to say.”
Trump told reporters that Israel had agents on the ground who determined there was “total obliteration.”
🚨 Breaking: Trump reveals that Israeli agents entered Fordow after the US strike 👇
“Israel’s guys went in there [Fordow] after the hit, and they said it was total obliteration” pic.twitter.com/1UAahF1sfM
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) June 25, 2025
Trump also read Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission’s battle damage assessment to reporters, saying, “The devastating U.S. strike on Fordow destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility totally inoperable. We assess that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities has set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons for many years to come.”
President Trump reads Israel assessment on U.S. strikes: “The devastating U.S. strike on Fordow destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility totally inoperable.” pic.twitter.com/jgLkRoDUGU
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 25, 2025
He further noted that Iran confirmed its sites took major hits. The nation’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said on Wednesday, “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure.”
Additionally, CIA Director John Ratcliffe countered the CNN and Times stories with a Wednesday afternoon statement, saying that based on a body of credible evidence, Iran’s nuclear weapons program was “severely damaged” by the U.S. air strikes.
My statement confirming CIA intelligence which contradicts illegally sourced public reporting regarding the destruction of key Iranian nuclear facilities. pic.twitter.com/Ln3b4hfELc
— CIA Director John Ratcliffe (@CIADirector) June 25, 2025
Ratcliffe said the evidence “includes new intelligence from an historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.”
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