President Trump repeated Wednesday his claim that U.S. strikes destroyed Iran’s nuclear program despite Pentagon intelligence reports that questioned how much damage was inflicted.
Wrapping up what he called a successful NATO summit, Trump insisted the weekend attack “obliterated” underground nuclear facilities and credited the strikes with ending the two-week war between Israel and Iran.
“It was really bad. It was devastating. They’re obliterated. Like, you can’t get into the tunnels,” Trump said. “I think we had a great victory here.”
“[The damage] was so bad that they ended the war,” he added. “It ended the war.”
Trump compared his airstrikes to the U.S. nuclear bombings of Japan that effectively ended World War II.
“If you look at [Hiroshima and] Nagasaki, you know, that ended a war, too. This ended a war in a different way. But it was so devastating,” Trump said.
Trump derided media reports quoting a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that the attack did not completely destroy the Fordow facility and may have set back Tehran’s nuclear program by only a few months.
He falsely accused news sites of maligning American pilots by baring reports that questioned the success of the attack.
“I just want to thank our pilots. You know, they were maligned and treated very bad, demeaned by the fake news,” he said.
“They want to spin it to try to make [Trump] look bad,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth chimed in.
Trump said the U.S. plans to hold a new round of nuclear talks with Iran in coming weeks, assuming the ceasefire between the Islamic Republic and Israel holds.
Trump earlier held what he called a positive hourlong meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, although there was no breakthrough reported in the three-year Russian invasion.
The president insisted that he believes Vladimir Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine, even though the Russian strongman has snubbed Trump’s demands for a ceasefire leading to peace talks.
“He’d like to get out of this thing. It’s a mess for him,” Trump said of Putin.
Sounding a jovial note, Trump called the summit a big success and praised the royal family of the Netherlands for hosting him. He laughed off a question about NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte calling him “Daddy.”
“I think he likes me. If he doesn’t, I’ll let you know,” Trump said with a grin. “I’ll come back and hit him hard.”
Trump hailed the alliance’s vote on Wednesday to have most members boost defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product with the key exception of Spain. He said the increase will add more than $1 trillion a year to “our common defense.”
“This is a big win for Europe and, actually, for Western civilization,” Trump said, adding that he would force Spain to pay for its refusal to pony up.
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