Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has broken her silence after President Donald Trump publicly refuted her earlier congressional testimony regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The firestorm ignited when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, ever the mouthpiece for the left, pressed President Trump aboard Air Force One about Gabbard’s March testimony before Congress.
“Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon,” Collins prodded, clearly fishing for a gotcha.
Trump shut her down, stating, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.”
Vice President JD Vance also stepped into the fray, dismantling the left’s spin on X: “First off, Tulsi’s testimony was in March, and a lot has changed since then. Second, if you look at what she said then, her point about uranium enrichment is consistent with what I wrote above.”
Vance clarified that while Iran is permitted nuclear energy for civilian use, the regime has repeatedly violated its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), proving its intent to weaponize its nuclear program.
The Biden-era appeasement policies, Vance implied, have only emboldened Tehran’s mullahs.
Gabbard, refusing to let the media twist her words, fired back in a statement shared by CNN Capitol Hill reporter Sarah Ferris and confirmed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), according to The Daily Caller.
Ferris wrote on X:
DNI Gabbard tells us she and Trump are “on the same page” when it comes to Iran nuclear timeline.
“Pres 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”
DNI Gabbard tells us she and Trump are “on the same page” when it comes to Iran nuclear timeline
“Pres 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”
— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) June 17, 2025
“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 told The Daily Caller.
The full context of Gabbard’s March testimony, posted by ODNI deputy chief of staff Alexa Henning, obliterates the media’s narrative. Gabbard told Congress:
The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamanei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003. The IC is closely monitoring if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program. In the past year, we have 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.
…
Iran continues to seeks expansion of its influence in the Middle East, despite the degradation to its proxies and defenses during the Gaza conflict. Iran has developed and maintains ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs, including systems capable of striking U.S. targets and allies in the region. Tehran has shown a willingness to use these weapons, including during a 2020 attack on U.S. forces in Iraq and in attacks against Israel in April and October 2024. Iran’s cyber operations and capabilities also present a serious threat to U.S. networks and data.
Full testimony: pic.twitter.com/rfEGiMJsLJ
— Alexa Henning (@alexahenning) June 17, 2025
Read the full article here