White House Denies Trump Ruled Out Using a ‘Tactical Nuke’ On Iran: Fox’s Heinrich Reports
Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reported on Thursday that the White House is denying a new report from The Guardian that “the president is not considering a tactical nuke” on Iran.
Heinrich spoke to Fox anchor Martha MacCallum following the White House briefing and reported, “Hey Martha, there have been a lot of headlines this afternoon, including one from The Guardian that claims that the U.S. military has doubts about whether the bunker-buster bombs could get the job done, and further claiming that only a tactical nuke maybe could finish it. And it further stated that the president is not considering a tactical nuke, that it was not one of the options that was presented to him.”
“I was just told by a top official here that none of that report is true. That none of the options are off the table, and the U.S. military is very confident that bunker-busters could get the job done at Fordow,” Heinrich continued, adding:
The president is giving himself until July 3rd to make a decision on whether to get involved on these strikes, saying there are signals that diplomacy could work. The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said European leaders who will speak with the Iranians tomorrow are on the same page as the White House and the expectation is they will deliver the same firm message in Geneva that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
And she would not forecast any chance for an Iranian delegation to come to the White House after they evidently found a way to get out of the country for these talks happening in Geneva tomorrow. But she also emphasized the gravity of this situation, revealing that Iran already has all of the components needed to build a nuclear weapon.
Fox then ran a quick clip of Leavitt saying, “Let’s be very clear, Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would of course pose an existential threat not just to Israel but to the United States and to the entire world.”
“The White House also swatted down some other reporting on who is advising the president in this decision, denying a Washington Post report that DNI Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are not in President Trump’s inner circle of advisors on this issue,” added Heinrich.
“I’m told they’ve both been present in every briefing, and Karoline Leavitt says, quote, ‘These claims have no basis in reality, and they are a clear attempt to sow distrust among the president’s cabinet. Secretary Hegseth and Director Gabbard remain critical and trusted members of the president’s national security team,’” she concluded.
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
