
By Ashley Brasfield. Media: Dailycaller
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard tells CNN she and President Donald Trump are “on the same page” when it comes to Iran’s nuclear capabilities and timeline. She accused the media of taking her out of context by leaving out her full testimony.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Trump aboard Air Force One to respond to remarks reportedly made by Gabbard.
“Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon,” Collins said. (RELATED: Iran Wants To Negotiate After Crippling Israeli Strikes)
“I don’t care what she said,” Trump replied. “I think they were very close to having one.”
In response, Gabbard clarified in a post shared by CNN Capitol Hill reporter Sarah Ferris that she and the president were aligned in their assessment in March.
“President Trump was saying the same thing that I said in my annual threat assessment back in March. Unfortunately, too many people in the media don’t care to actually read what I said,” Gabbard stated in an official comment, which was later confirmed to the Caller by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
In her March testimony before Congress, Gabbard offered detailed insight into the Intelligence Community’s assessment of the Iranian nuclear threat, which were highlighted in two transcript excerpts posted by Alexa Henning.
“The [Intelligence Community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khomeini has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003,” Gabbard said.
Gabbard continued, highlighting that there still appears to be some reason for concern.
“In the past year, we’ve seen an erosion of a decades-long taboo in Iran on discussing nuclear weapons in public, likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran’s decision-making apparatus. Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”
Gabbard was reportedly in a Situation Room meeting with Trump to discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East on Tuesday.
“US weighing next move. US intelligence officials say Tulsi Gabbard has been in every meeting at White House to discuss Mideast options since not being included at Camp David meeting. Officials say that was not supposed to be a meeting about intelligence,” Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin wrote in a post.
The Israeli strikes came just hours after Iran announced plans to build and activate a third nuclear enrichment facility Thursday.
The announcement heightened tensions with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, which earlier that day formally declared Iran in violation of its nonproliferation obligations aimed at preventing the development of nuclear weapons, according to multiple reports.
That same day, during an emergency session in New York, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional, and lasting ceasefire in Gaza — just as Israel launched its retaliatory strike on Iran.
The Daily Caller contacted an official with the ODNI, which pointed to Ferris’s statement on X as its response.
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