THE HAGUE: US President Donald Trump compared the impact of American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to the end of World War Two on Wednesday, arguing that the damage was severe even though available intelligence reports were inconclusive. His comments followed reports by Reuters and other media outlets on Tuesday revealing that the US Defense Intelligence Agency had assessed that the strikes had set back Iran鈥檚 nuclear program by just a few months, despite Trump and administration officials saying it had been obliterated.
鈥淭he intelligence was … very inconclusive,鈥 Trump told reporters while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of a summit in The Hague.
鈥淭he intelligence says, 鈥榃e don鈥檛 know, it could have been very severe.鈥 That鈥檚 what the intelligence says. So I guess that鈥檚 correct, but I think we can take the 鈥榳e don鈥檛 know鈥. It was very severe. It was obliteration,鈥 Trump added.
SUCCESS OF IRAN STRIKES CRUCIAL FOR TRUMP
Trump has an uneasy relationship with the US intelligence community, and the success of the strikes is politically critical to him. His right-leaning supporters had argued loudly beforehand that such military intervention was inconsistent with Trump鈥檚 domestic-focused 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥 agenda and his promise to avoid foreign entanglements.
Trump has countered by insisting that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon – a line that an accurate, decisive attack would support.
Trump said the US strikes were responsible for ending the war between Israel and Iran and compared them to the United States鈥 use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which brought an end to World War Two in 1945.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don鈥檛 want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war. This ended the war,鈥 Trump said. Trump argued that Iran鈥檚 nuclear program had been set back 鈥渂asically decades, because I don鈥檛 think they鈥檒l ever do it again鈥 and he turned to top advisers to reinforce that message.
Broadly, he has argued that the strikes were much more successful than has so far been reported in the US media.
The White House on Wednesday shared what it said was a statement from the Israel Atomic Energy Commission – that country鈥檚 nuclear regulator – assessing that Iran鈥檚 nuclear program had been set back by 鈥渕any years.鈥
Al Jazeera quoted an Iranian official on Wednesday saying that the country鈥檚 nuclear installations had been 鈥渂adly damaged.鈥
HEGSETH AND RUBIO REINFORCE TRUMP鈥橲 MESSAGE
Trump, who arrived in the Netherlands late on Tuesday for NATO鈥檚 annual summit, was sitting beside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who both also cast doubt on the reliability of the DIA assessment.
鈥淲hen you actually look at the report – by the way, it was a top secret report – it was preliminary, it was low-confidence,鈥 Hegseth said. 鈥淭his is a political motive here.鈥
He said the FBI was investigating a potential leak. Rubio suggested that those responsible for sharing the report had mischaracterized it, saying: 鈥淭his is the game they play.鈥
All three men criticized media reports about the intelligence assessments.
At the summit, NATO member states were set to announce their joint intention to raise defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product.
While some countries have suggested they may not in fact reach that threshold, the Trump administration has pointed to the expected commitment as a significant foreign policy victory.