CIA says Iran’s nuclear program “severely damaged” as Trump disputes media reports

The CIA has stated that Iran’s nuclear program has been “severely damaged” following recent targeted strikes, pushing back on news reports that suggested a more limited impact—reports which President Trump has repeatedly denounced as “fake news.”

In a statement released Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency had received “credible intelligence” indicating that the three key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would need to be “rebuilt over the course of years.”

Ratcliffe noted that the assessment was supported by “a historically reliable and accurate source/method” and that the CIA would continue to update both lawmakers and the public “when possible.”

The statement follows reports from the New York Times, CNN, and other media outlets citing officials familiar with a Pentagon assessment, which concluded that the strikes delayed Iran’s nuclear program by less than six months and failed to collapse the underground facilities.

In response to the reports, President Donald Trump criticized CNN and the New York Times, labeling their coverage as “fake news” and accusing them of downplaying the success of the mission.

“We just caught the Failing New York Times, working with Fake News CNN, cheating again!” Trump wrote. “They tried to demean the great work our B-2 pilots did, and they were wrong in doing so. TOTAL OBLITERATION!”

Trump also announced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior military officials would hold a news conference Thursday morning at the Pentagon “in order to fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots.”

“These Patriots were very upset! After 36 hours of dangerously flying through Enemy Territory, they landed, they knew the Success was LEGENDARY, and then, two days later, they started reading Fake News by CNN and The Failing New York Times,” Trump said, adding that the “News Conference will prove both interesting and irrefutable.”