Gabbard Shuts Down Media Spin on Her Iran Nuclear Testimony
The mainstream media has once again been caught red-handed distorting the facts, this time by misrepresenting Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s past testimony on Iran’s nuclear ambitions in order to manufacture a rift between her, former President Donald Trump, and the U.S. intelligence community. The narrative being pushed is that Trump is at odds with his own intelligence officials, including Gabbard herself, regarding Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“Trump's Rebuke of Gabbard Signals an Uneasy Moment,” reads the headline at the New York Times.
The Associated Press reported, “President Donald Trump said Friday that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was ‘wrong’ when she previously said that the U.S. believed Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon, and he suggested that it would be ‘very hard to stop’ Israel’s strikes on Iran in order to negotiate a possible ceasefire.”
But a closer look at Gabbard’s actual testimony reveals a very different story, and Gabbard is calling the media out for pushing a fake story. Gabbard took to X to set the record straight. “The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,” she declared. “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.”
In her testimony, Gabbard provided a comprehensive assessment of the Iranian threat, laying out the multifaceted dangers posed by the regime. She stated, “Iran continues to seek expansion of its influence in the Middle East, despite the degradation to its proxies and defenses during the Gaza conflict.” She detailed Iran’s arsenal, noting, “Iran has developed and maintains ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs, including systems capable of striking US targets and allies in the region.” Gabbard didn’t shy away from the regime’s willingness to use these weapons, referencing past attacks: “Tehran has shown a willingness to use these weapons, including during a 2020 attack on US forces in Iraq and in attacks against Israel in April and October 2024.”
She also highlighted Iran’s growing cyber threat, warning, “Iran’s cyber operations and capabilities also present a serious threat to US networks and data.” But the media fixated on her remarks about Iran’s nuclear program, particularly her statement: “The IC [intelligence community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.” This line was seized upon and wrenched out of context to suggest that the intelligence community, and by extension Gabbard, were contradicting Trump’s warnings about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
What the media conveniently omitted was Gabbard’s clear warning that the situation remains fluid and dangerous. She testified, “The IC continues to monitor closely if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program. In the past year, we’ve 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.” These are not the words of someone downplaying the threat. Rather, Gabbard was sounding the alarm that Iran is closer than ever to the nuclear threshold, and that the regime’s intentions could shift at any moment.
This is not a case of disagreement between Trump and his intelligence chief, but rather a unified front against a grave and evolving threat. Gabbard’s testimony made it clear that the intelligence community is watching Iran’s nuclear intentions closely, fully aware that the regime has both the capability and the uranium stockpile to rapidly build a weapon should it make the decision. The difference between “not currently building” and “capable of building within weeks or months” is not a contradiction—it is a sobering reality.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also agrees with Trump and Gabbard and plenty of others have been warning for years: Iran is inching dangerously close to getting nukes. In a report released last month, the agency sounded the alarm over Iran’s blatant stonewalling—pulling the plug on all inspections tied to the disastrous Obama-era nuclear deal, the JCPOA. According to the IAEA, their ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear program has been “seriously affected” and made worse by Tehran’s decision to yank out all surveillance equipment.
The media’s attempt to drive a wedge between Trump and Gabbard is just the latest example of narrative-driven reporting that prioritizes political drama over the facts. Gabbard’s own words expose the dishonesty. The truth is, both Trump and Gabbard are on the same page: Iran cannot be allowed to cross the nuclear threshold, and the U.S. must remain vigilant. The only division here is the one being manufactured by a media desperate for a story.