United States President Donald Trump has publicly rejected the conclusion of his own US intelligence community regarding Iran’s nuclear programme, insisting that the country is actively building a nuclear weapon — a position at odds with official assessments.
In remarks on Friday, Trump said the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, was “wrong” in her testimony to Congress, where she reaffirmed that Iran has not resumed its nuclear weapons programme. “Then my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?” Trump asked a reporter, who responded: “Your DNI, Tulsi Gabbard.” “She’s wrong,” Trump replied.
Earlier in the week, Trump had already cast doubt on Gabbard’s March 25 report, which reiterated the consensus of the US intelligence agencies that Iran is not currently weaponising its nuclear capabilities.
Later on Friday, Gabbard attempted to clarify her position on social media, stating:
“America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”
Her comment, however, did not contradict her earlier statement that Iran has not made a political decision to build a bomb — a key distinction in intelligence reporting.
It is highly unusual for a US president to so directly undermine the conclusions of the intelligence apparatus, and critics say Trump’s stance could signal a willingness to justify future military engagement.
“This is not just one person or one agency. It’s the entire US intelligence community,” said Al Jazeera senior analyst Marwan Bishara. “That the president would dismiss them outright is astounding.”
Trump also cast doubt on US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. “Israel’s doing well in terms of war,” he said. “Iran is doing less well. It’s hard to make that request right now. When someone’s winning, it’s harder than when they’re losing.”
Al Jazeera’s Washington correspondent Heidi Zhou Castro noted that Trump appeared “squarely on Israel’s side” and was not prioritising diplomatic de-escalation. Still, the president said he would take two weeks to decide the US response to the conflict — a decision analysts believe could reshape the regional balance.
The US remains one of the few nations with the influence to rein in Israel and potentially prevent a broader war. At the same time, American military capabilities are seen as essential to any Israeli plans to dismantle Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, especially the fortified Fordow enrichment facility.
Trump also dismissed European diplomatic efforts, saying flatly: “Europe is not going to be able to help.” His comment came after Iran’s foreign minister met with top EU diplomats in Geneva.
