The White House is ramping up its defense of President Trump's decision to bomb Iranian nuclear sites after an intelligence assessment has added to growing scrutiny over the effectiveness of the strikes.
Trump, who has sought to parry criticism of the intervention by touting a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran clinched after the bombings, has bristled at media reports casting doubt on his claims.
Appearing at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, Trump insisted there was "total obliteration" at the Iran nuclear sites, putting Tehran's nuclear program back "basically decades."
The president in a Truth Social post late Tuesday accused news outlets of teaming up to "DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY."
An initial U.S. intelligence assessment reported by multiple media outlets Tuesday found the strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites delayed Tehran's nuclear program by a matter of months — and possibly fewer than six.
The assessment is preliminary and could change, the reports noted, but it cast doubt on whether the bombings against the sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan had "obliterated" the program as the president has claimed.
The core components of Iran's nuclear program reportedly remain intact, raising new questions about Tehran's next moves and whether the U.S. might revisit additional military action in the future in its goal to destroy it.
Trump has declared success and suggested no new plans for U.S. intervention against Iran in support of Israel, and chastized both countries on Tuesday as both sides claimed the other had violated a ceasefire.
The White House has moved quickly to dismiss the contents of the intelligence assessment, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt casting the agency analysis as "flat-out wrong."
"The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement to The Hill.
Vice President Vance, addressing a GOP fundraiser in Lima, Ohio, on Tuesday night, told the audience, "Not only did we destroy the Iranian nuclear program, we did it with zero American casualties."
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea told the U.N. Security Council the U.S. operation "effectively fulfilled our narrow objective: to degrade Iran's capacity to produce a nuclear weapon."
Trump indicated Wednesday Israel was also conducting assessments of the strikes. Hegseth said the Trump administration plans to investigate how the intelligence assessment was leaked to the media.
▪ The Hill: Trump's "both sides" approach to Israel, Iran comes into question.
The White House on Tuesday abruptly postponed lawmaker briefings about the Iran mission until later this week, infuriating skeptical Democrats and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky), who has criticized the strikes.
"The Top Secret Israel-Iran war briefing we were supposed to receive today was canceled. They say it was 'postponed,' but no new date was given. What the Hell?" Massie wrote on social media platform X.
"If the press reporting about the impact of last weekend's strikes in Iran is true, and I cannot confirm them, then that might be the reason why the administration postponed our classified briefing today at the very last minute," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.
Trump earlier in the week had criticized "sleazebag" journalists for reporting uncertainty about the extent of damage from the U.S. strikes, stating the sites "were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it."
The president then turned his focus to announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which appears to be holding after some initial shakiness.
A White House source told CBS News that Trump was "exceptionally firm and direct" in his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about what needed to happen to sustain the ceasefire, and the source said Netanyahu had "understood the severity of the situation and the concerns President Trump expressed."
Netanyahu said he had held off on tougher strikes after talking with Trump.
▪ The Hill: Trump tensions with Israel, Netanyahu surface.
▪ The Hill: The president's push for a ceasefire soothed MAGA nerves.
Israel has touted its 12-day military campaign against Iran as having an impact on setting Tehran's nuclear program back.
Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters in New York City on Tuesday it's "too early to assess all the strikes" and too early to hold diplomatic talks with Iran but talks could happen soon.
"We know we were able to push back the program," he added. "We were able to remove the imminent threat that we had."
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told senators on Tuesday during a confirmation hearing that Iran still possesses "significant tactical capability." He said that capability was demonstrated by a limited retaliatory missile strike against a U.S. military base in Qatar, which Iran telegraphed ahead of time to make a point while preventing any casualties.
In response to a question about whether Iran still poses a threat to U.S. troops and Americans around the world, Cooper replied, "They do."
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