Donald Trump snubs Intel chief Tulsi Gabbard, says Iran was ‘very close’ to building a nuke

US President Donald Trump dismissed the assessment of National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, suggesting instead that the country is “very close” to developing a nuclear bomb.

“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I think they were very close to having it.”

Tulsi Gabbard had testified before Congress earlier this year that US intelligence agencies did not believe Iran was actively building a nuclear weapon. In her March testimony, she said, “The intelligence community continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.”

Gabbard downplays rift

Despite the apparent contradiction, Gabbard downplayed the disagreement.

“President Trump was saying the same thing that I said,” she told CNN. Her office referred further inquiries to those remarks.

Gabbard also acknowledged Iran’s increasing uranium stockpile, calling it “unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”

Trump returns early from G7 to focus on Iran-Israel crisis

The White House confirmed on Monday that Trump cut short his trip to the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies to deal with the rapidly escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

On social media, Trump warned: “Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

When asked about the evacuation comment, he told reporters: “I just want people to be safe.”

US strategy: Peace, pressure, and possible diplomacy

Trump said he was not seeking a ceasefire but pushing for a longer-term resolution.

He added he wasn’t ruling out diplomacy and mentioned possibly sending Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Iranian officials: “They should talk, and they should talk immediately,” he said.

Israel pushes harder

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Iran’s nuclear program as an imminent threat and vowed to destroy it entirely.

Israeli forces have already struck multiple sites but have failed to destroy the deeply buried Fordo enrichment facility. Experts say only the US-owned 30,000-pound GBU-57 "bunker buster" could accomplish that—delivered by a B-2 stealth bomber, which Israel does not possess.