United States: In an unequivocal display before Congress earlier this year, Tulsi Gabbard dismissed any notion that Iran was actively crafting a nuclear weapon. Echoing the consensus of America’s top intelligence brass, she stressed that Tehran’s Supreme Leader had not reignited the long-dormant nuclear weapons agenda—despite elevated uranium enrichment levels.
Yet President Donald Trump, mid-flight from the G7 summit, scorned those intelligence findings. Cutting his diplomatic excursion short, he redirected his attention to the rising turmoil between Israel and Iran.
“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One. In his estimation, Iran stood on the precipice of developing a nuclear bomb.
By embracing this stance, Trump synchronized himself not with his intelligence heads, but with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long painted Iran’s nuclear ambitions as an impending catastrophe. With tensions cresting, Trump summoned his national security circle to the White House Situation Room to deliberate next maneuvers.
Gabbard, undeterred by the apparent schism, cast blame on the press for twisting her earlier remarks. “President Trump was saying the same thing that I said,” she explained to CNN, asserting alignment with the administration’s rhetoric. Her office referred back to these statements when pressed.
During her March address to lawmakers, Gabbard stated that the intelligence community “continues to determine that Iran is not constructing a nuclear arsenal and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not re-initiated the weapons program he halted in 2003.”
However, she also issued a warning: Iran’s uranium reserves had surged to historic highs—alarming levels for a nation unaffiliated with nuclear arms.
Trump’s contradiction of Gabbard’s official briefing mirrors his former confrontations with intelligence chiefs. Throughout his first term, he frequently accused U.S. intelligence services of conspiring to derail his presidency—coining the term “deep state.” Most memorably, he sided with Vladimir Putin in 2018, declaring the Russian leader’s denial of election meddling “strong and powerful.”
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This renewed fissure is especially striking given that Trump’s second-term roster is composed largely of loyalists. Gabbard, a veteran of the armed forces and erstwhile Democratic lawmaker from Hawaii, narrowly clinched her Senate confirmation. Critics questioned her thin résumé in intelligence oversight and executive leadership.
Since exiting the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsing Trump’s re-election campaign, Gabbard has remained an outspoken ally. On Tuesday, she’s expected to appear before Congress in a classified session alongside CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during a pre-scheduled budget hearing. Both are likely to field intense scrutiny regarding their interpretations of Iran’s activities and Trump’s divergent commentary.
The CIA has not responded to media queries.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has consistently raised red flags: Iran possesses sufficient enriched uranium to produce multiple nuclear devices if it so elects. Iran, for its part, maintains that its nuclear operations are purely civil in nature.
An earlier intelligence summary assembled under President Joe Biden also concluded that Iran was not actively building a bomb. Still, it highlighted that Iran had embarked on activities—such as stockpiling uranium and enhancing centrifuge operations—that would enable rapid bomb assembly if that path were chosen. No specific timeline was presented.
Trump has diverged from intelligence conclusions in other domains, too. On immigration, he cited the archaic Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants, asserting that the violent Tren de Aragua cartel was operating in tandem with Venezuela’s regime. However, a classified intelligence briefing from April reported no substantiating evidence.
In response, Gabbard terminated two veteran intelligence analysts who compiled that report. She accused them of ideological resistance to Trump’s directives.
To counter backlash, the White House disseminated a statement from Gabbard reinforcing the president’s move.
“President Trump took bold and essential action to protect our homeland by removing these Tren de Aragua criminals,” the message read. “Now that American streets are rid of these violent actors, entrenched bureaucrats are using their propaganda wings to undermine the President’s victories.”