U.S. President Trump claims that Iran maintained a nuclear weapons development program, contradicting U.S. intelligence. In a letter to Congress, Trump defended airstrikes on Iranian sites, calling them nuclear facilities.
However, the U.S. intelligence community says there’s no evidence Iran restarted such a program after 2003.
Except that US intelligence services and Trump’s own DNI said not only does Iran NOT have nukes, but that their nuclear weapons program has been mothballed since 2003. Trump’s response? “They’re wrong”…like he has intel his intel people don’t have?https://t.co/NfacvFVPh0
— Harrison Lansing (@HarrisonLansing) June 22, 2025
Trump Defends Strikes
Trump informed Congress that U.S. forces hit three Iranian nuclear facilities tied to a supposed weapons development program. He said, “United States forces conducted a precision strike against three nuclear facilities in Iran… for its nuclear weapons development program.” This directly conflicts with what U.S. intelligence had reported just months earlier.
In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified that Iran had not resumed its nuclear weapons effort since it was halted in 2003. Trump dismissed Gabbard’s report last week. “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” he told reporters. Meanwhile, Gabbard pushed back on social media, stating Iran could technically make a nuclear weapon “in weeks to months” but hadn’t done so.
Intelligence officials told Reuters that this assessment has not changed and that Iran still lacks the fully developed capability for a warhead.
Trump’s Claims Stir Backlash
Using bunker-busting bombs, the strikes targeted nuclear installations in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz. The subterranean Fordow complex has the potential to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels. Trump insisted the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s program, echoing comments from top officials.
But a preliminary intelligence review found that the damage only delayed Iran’s capabilities by a few months. An official who reviewed the classified report said it included several caveats, and a detailed version is still pending. Iran continues to insist its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes. The situation draws comparisons to George W. Bush’s discredited claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
With no new evidence, critics are questioning whether Trump used unverified intelligence to justify military action. Meanwhile, agencies like the CIA and ODNI have declined to comment. The administration now faces growing scrutiny over what intelligence, if any, backed Trump’s dramatic assertion to Congress.
