At a Thursday morning briefing alongside Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized the press for latching onto an early intelligence report that appeared to cast doubt on the success of recent U.S. airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. He accused reporters of ignoring context and downplaying a mission that, according to the administration, achieved its goals.
Hegseth argued that the assessment, which suggested the damage from the strikes may have fallen short of expectations, had not been vetted across the intelligence community. He emphasized that other, more thorough evaluations presented a very different understanding of the impact from “Operation Midnight Hammer.”
He claimed the media had seized on the initial report in order to discredit President Trump. “President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history, and it was a resounding success, resulting in a ceasefire agreement and the end of the 12-day war,” Hegseth stated. “Because of decisive military action, President Trump created the conditions to end the war, decimating, choose your word, obliterating, destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities.”
Hegseth stressed that the controversial report was only a preliminary analysis and lacked coordination with other intelligence agencies. “It’s preliminary,” he said. “It points out that it’s not been coordinated with the intelligence community at all. There’s low confidence in this particular report.”
He said even the report itself acknowledged missing data points and admitted that its conclusion rested on one major assumption. “If you’re wrong, everything else is wrong, and still, this report acknowledges it’s likely severe damage,” Hegseth said.
According to Hegseth, the leak of this assessment was deliberate and politically motivated. “The DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] that put that report out says this is a preliminary low-confidence report and will continue to be refined as additional intelligence becomes available,” he said. “The report was leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful.”
He then questioned why more definitive statements supporting the operation’s success hadn’t been widely reported by outlets such as The New York Times or the Washington Post. “How about the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission: ‘The devastating U.S. strikes on Fordo destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable?'” Hegseth asked. “How about this one? This is a new one from the U.N., the United Nations, no friend of the United States, or certainly Israel.”
Hegseth added, “Here’s the head of the U.N. Atomic Energy Agency this morning, Rafael Grossi: ‘U.S. and Israeli strikes caused enormous damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.’ Don’t take my word for it. How about the IDF’s chief of staff? ‘I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, setting it back by years.’”
He also cited confirmation from American intelligence leaders. “CIA Director John Ratcliff has also reported that the agency can confirm that a ‘body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s nuclear program has been severely damaged by recent targeted strikes.’”
In addition, he quoted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: “‘New intelligence confirms what POTUS has stated numerous times. Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed.’”
“I could list quote after quote,” Hegseth said, reiterating that the available information overwhelmingly supported the administration’s narrative of success.
He accused journalists of rooting against Trump rather than fairly covering the operation. “So let’s take half truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it,” he said. “Spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind, the public mind, over whether or not our brave pilots were successful.”
Hegseth challenged reporters for failing to tell the story of the operation from the perspective of those who carried it out. He expressed frustration that few outlets had focused on “what our brave men and women did.”
He also mentioned Trump’s role at the NATO summit, highlighting what he described as a major breakthrough in European defense spending commitments. According to Hegseth, 32 NATO members had now agreed to dedicate 5% of their GDP to defense efforts.
“We’re here this morning because in hunting for scandals all the time in trying to find wedges and spin stories, this press corps and the press corps miss historic moments,” Hegseth concluded.

{Matzav.com}