President Donald Trump stated on Friday that his national intelligence chief, Tarsi Gabbard, is mistaken in her assertion that Iran is not moving towards developing nuclear weapons.
These remarks came as Trump left the Air Force, en route to Bedminster, New Jersey, while responding to questions from reporters. “She’s wrong,” he said after being queried about Gabbard’s claims regarding Iran’s nuclear intentions. “My intelligence community is wrong.”
This dispute arose after a reporter referenced Gabbard’s public opposition to the Iraq War from about two decades ago, questioning how this influences the situation with Iran. Trump reflected on past claims about weapons of mass destruction, noting he never believed there were any. He suggested that the current scenario is different, emphasizing, “I looked at the material they have already gathered in Iran… it’s a substantial amount. You’ll see, within weeks or certainly months, they could be capable of acquiring nuclear weapons.”
In March, Gabbard had commented during a Senate Intelligence Committee session that the intelligence community still assesses Iran as not actively building nuclear weapons, and noted that the nuclear weapons program had been halted since 2003.
Meanwhile, Gabbard recently alerted people on social media to the threat of potential nuclear conflict, expressing concern that tensions have escalated dangerously.
Despite the disagreement, Trump mentioned he didn’t take issue with Gabbard’s previous comment aboard Air Force One suggesting that Iran is close to obtaining nuclear capabilities.
Fox News Digital reached out to Gabbard’s office for a comment but hasn’t received a response yet.
