President Donald Trump’s longstanding tensions with the U.S. intelligence community have resurfaced this time over conflicting assessments of the impact of recent American airstrikes on Iran.
An early intelligence report indicated that Iran’s nuclear programme was only delayed by a few months following last weekend’s strikes on three sites.
However, Trump publicly rejected the findings, claiming the programme was “completely and fully obliterated.”
The disagreement has triggered another high-profile standoff between the president and the intelligence community.
Top administration officials are expected to support Trump’s version of events at a Pentagon press conference scheduled for Thursday.
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Meanwhile, briefings for lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been arranged, though the White House is reportedly limiting the disclosure of classified material after the initial assessment was leaked.
“Intelligence people strive to live in a world as it is, describe the world as it is,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a 32-year intelligence veteran and former CIA chief of staff. “Politicians are all about describing the world as they want it to be.”
This latest dispute echoes patterns from Trump’s first term, where his foreign policy claims often clashed with intelligence reports most notably during the Russia investigation.
NAN
