The Trump admin will not put up with disingenuous media heads. They will get exposed.
That’s why President Trump and Sec. of Defense Hegseth just teamed up to utterly humiliate these fake news journalists.
Trump and Hegseth Blast Media for Undermining Iran Nuclear Strike Success
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a sharp rebuke to NBC News reporter Kelly O’Donnell during a Wednesday press briefing, addressing what they called misleading reports about the recent U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The fiery exchange came as O’Donnell pressed the administration on a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment, reported by CNN, which suggested the strikes only delayed Iran’s nuclear program by a few months, contradicting Trump’s assertion that the sites were “completely obliterated.”
The DIA’s early assessment, which surfaced just days after Saturday’s precision bombings, sparked a media frenzy. Trump dismissed the report as incomplete, emphasizing that it failed to capture the full extent of the damage inflicted by U.S. forces. He argued that the assessment, rushed out prematurely, did not account for the complex nature of the underground facilities targeted in the operation.
“You talked about having some on-the-ground assessments at Fordow and other sites … What is your message then, sir, to the intelligence community when they present reports?” O’Donnell asked, probing the president’s stance.
“[The DIA] presented a report that wasn’t finished. We’re talking about something that took place three days ago. The report was done days ago,” Trump responded, cutting through O’Donnell’s attempt to interject. “Wait a minute, they didn’t see it. All they can do is take a guess. Now if you take a look at the pictures, if you take a look at how it’s all blackened. You know the fire and brimstone is all underground because it’s granite and it’s all underground. You don’t show it. But even there, with all of that being said, the whole area for 75 yards around, the hole where it hit is black with fire … It’s been obliterated, totally obliterated.”
Trump didn’t hold back in criticizing the media’s rush to judgment, accusing outlets like NBC of seizing on incomplete information to push a narrative. He pointed to visual evidence of the strike’s impact, describing scorched earth and widespread destruction as proof of the mission’s success. The president’s frustration was palpable as he called out the press for undermining the military’s efforts.
“It could be severe or maybe it’s not. So people like you pick it up and say ‘oh, it’s not severe.’ No, the report was not a complete report. Yet the message was probably more wait till you know the answer,” Trump said, directly challenging O’Donnell’s line of questioning.
Defense Secretary Hegseth echoed Trump’s sentiments, accusing the corporate media of spinning the story for political gain. He praised the bravery and skill of the U.S. pilots and support crews who executed the 36-hour operation, which targeted Iran’s nuclear capabilities to protect American interests and global security.
“There’s a reason that the president calls out fake news for what it is,” Hegseth told O’Donnell. “These pilots, these re-fuelers, these fighters, these air defenders, the skill and the courage it took to go into any territory for 36 hours on behalf of the American people and the world to take out a nuclear program is beyond what anyone in this audience can fathom. And then the instinct of CNN, the instinct of The New York Times is to try to find a way to spin it for their own political reason to try to hurt President Trump or our country. They don’t care what the troops think, they don’t care what the world thinks. They want to spin it to try to make him look bad based on a leak.”
Trump returned to the podium, urging O’Donnell to take pride in the B-2 pilots who carried out the mission with precision. The administration has consistently maintained that the strikes devastated Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, a claim they say is backed by initial reports and imagery from the sites.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also weighed in, calling the leaked DIA assessment “flat-out wrong” and a deliberate attempt to “demean” both Trump and the pilots who risked their lives. She emphasized that the administration’s focus remains on supporting the troops and ensuring America’s strength on the global stage.
On Tuesday, Trump had already taken aim at outlets like CNN and MSNBC, labeling them “gutless losers” for downplaying the strikes’ success and portraying the operation as an “incomplete strike.” He demanded an apology from these networks to the pilots, whose efforts, he argued, deserve recognition rather than media-driven skepticism.
