Morristown, NJ — President Donald Trump has again publicly rebuked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, openly disputing her testimony on Iran’s nuclear program and making clear she no longer speaks for his administration on the matter.
Speaking to reporters Friday after landing in Morristown, Trump dismissed Gabbard’s March testimony to Congress, in which she stated that the intelligence community had assessed Iran was not actively developing a nuclear weapon. “She’s wrong,” Trump said.
The rebuke echoed a comment Trump made earlier this week aboard Air Force One, when he was asked about her testimony and said, “I don’t care what she says.”
“How close do you think that they [Iran] were close to getting a nuclear weapon because Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon?”
Trump replied bluntly: “I don’t care what she says — I think they were very close.”
It’s the second time in just days that Trump has publicly undercut Gabbard, signaling a dramatic loss of confidence in his top intelligence official and escalating internal tensions over how to respond to Iran.
While Gabbard continues to stand by the broader U.S. intelligence community’s estimate—that Iran is years away from building a bomb—Trump appears to be leaning more heavily on Israeli assessments, which claim Tehran is on the brink of nuclear capability. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Iran may be months or even weeks away.
Sources inside the administration say Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been increasingly sidelined in key national security discussions. Trump is reportedly considering military options but has paused any decision for two weeks to allow for a possible diplomatic breakthrough.
The divide between Trump and Gabbard reflects a growing power shift within the administration, where hawkish voices are rising and dissenting assessments—no matter how evidence-based—are being pushed aside. Trump’s public remarks make clear: he’s no longer interested in Tulsi Gabbard’s opinion—and he’s not shy about saying so.
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