‘Total Obliteration’: Trump Cites Israeli Intel to Counter Leaked U.S. Military Report On Iranian Nuke Site
President Donald Trump told reporters during a presser at Wednesday’s NATO summit that an Israeli intelligence report will confirm Iran’s nuclear enrichment site at Fordow was completely destroyed, countering a recently leaked report from the Pentagon.
“You know they have guys that go in there after the hit, and they said it was total obliteration,” Trump told reporters, adding:
Israel is doing a report on it now, I understand, and I was told that they said it was total obliteration. I believe it was total obliteration, and I believe they didn’t have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast.
Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Effi Defrin discussed Israel’s preliminary assessment of the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying, “Now, I trust our intelligence analysts in the Intelligence Directorate and in the Air Force. I believe they have proven themselves to be accurate in recent weeks, and I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can also say that we set it back by years, I repeat, years.”
Trump has slammed CNN over its recent reporting on a leaked Pentagon assessment that the U.S. strikes on Fordow did not “destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months.” CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, citing sources with knowledge of the report, added that “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 US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes.”
Trump cast doubt on the U.S. assessment when asked by reporters during the Q&A at the NATO summit. “The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.”
Trump later launched a scathing attack on Bertrand and cancelled classified briefings for Congressional leaders on the U.S. strikes. The White House appeared to confirm the authenticity of the report by saying, “We are declaring a war on leakers. The FBI is investigating the leak. The intelligence community is figuring out how to tighten up their processes so we don’t have ‘Deep State’ actors leaking parts of intel analysis that have ‘low confidence’ to the media.”
“Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out ‘like a dog,’” wrote Trump on Truth Social Wednesday, clearly incensed by the Pentagon report being made public. “She lied on the Laptop from Hell Story, and now she lied on the Nuclear Sites Story, attempting to destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad when, in fact, they did a GREAT job and hit ‘pay dirt’ — TOTAL OBLITERATION!”
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
