WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� said Friday that his director of national intelligence, , was 鈥渨rong鈥� when she previously said that the U.S. believed Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon, and he suggested that it would be 鈥渧ery hard to stop鈥� Israel's strikes on Iran in order to negotiate a possible ceasefire.
Trump has recently taken a more aggressive public stance toward Tehran as he's whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility. Buried under a mountain, the facility is believed to be out of the reach of all but .
After landing in New Jersey for an evening fundraiser for his super political action committee, Trump was asked about Gabbard's comments to Congress in March that U.S. spy agencies believed that Iran wasn't working on nuclear warheads. The president responded, 鈥淲ell then, my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?鈥�
Informed that it had been Gabbard, Trump said, 鈥淪he's wrong.鈥�
In a subsequent post on X, Gabbard said her testimony was taken out of context 鈥渁s a way to manufacture division.鈥�
鈥淎merica has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淧resident Trump has been clear that can鈥檛 happen, and I agree.鈥�
Still, disavowing Gabbard鈥檚 previous assessment came a day after the White House said Trump would decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military would get directly involved in the conflict between and . It said seeking additional time was 鈥渂ased on the fact that there鈥檚 a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.鈥�
But on Friday, Trump himself seemed to cast doubts on the possibility of talks leading to a pause in fighting between Israel and Iran. He said that, while he might support a ceasefire, Israel's strikes on Iran could be 鈥渧ery hard to stop.鈥�
Asked about Iran suggesting that, if the U.S. was serious about furthering negotiations, it could call on Israel to stop its strikes, Trump responded, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very hard to make that request right now.鈥�
鈥淚f somebody is winning, it鈥檚 a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing," Trump said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e ready, willing and able, and we鈥檝e been speaking to Iran, and we鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�
The president later added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to stop when you look at it.鈥�
"Israel鈥檚 doing well in terms of war. And, I think, you would say that Iran is doing less well. It鈥檚 a little bit hard to get somebody to stop," Trump said.
Trump campaigned on decrying 鈥渆ndless wars鈥� and has vowed to be an international peacemaker. That's led some, even among conservatives, to point to Trump鈥檚 past criticism of the U.S. invasion of Iraq beginning in 2003 as being at odds with his more aggressive stance toward Iran now.
Trump suggested the two situations were very different, though.
鈥淭here were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. And that was somewhat pre-nuclear. You know, it was, it was a nuclear age, but nothing like it is today,鈥� Trump said of his past criticism of the administration of President George W. Bush.
He added of Iran鈥檚 current nuclear program, 鈥淚t looked like I鈥檓 right about the material that they鈥檝e gathered already. It鈥檚 a tremendous amount of material.鈥�
Trump also cast doubts on Iran's developing nuclear capabilities for civilian pursuits, like power generation.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e sitting on one of the largest oil piles anywhere in the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit hard to see why you鈥檇 need that.鈥�
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Will Weissert, The Associated Press
