WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump's fights with the intelligence community were a running theme of his first term, as he raged against an investigation into his campaign鈥檚 alleged links to Russia. Now, a sequel is playing out as Trump battles to of his foreign policy gamble in Iran.
said Iran鈥檚 nuclear program has been set back only a few months after last weekend. Trump has rejected the report and pronounced the program 鈥渃ompletely and fully obliterated.鈥�
The dispute is unlikely to fade anytime soon. Top administration officials are pressing Trump's case, with a news conference set for Thursday at the Pentagon. on Capitol Hill, though the White House plans to limit the sharing of classified information after the initial intelligence assessment leaked this week.
鈥淚ntelligence people strive to live in a world as it is, describe the world as it is, where politicians are all about describing the world as they want it to be,鈥� said Larry Pfeiffer, a 32-year intelligence veteran who held positions including CIA chief of staff and senior director of the White House Situation Room.
Though it鈥檚 hardly unheard of for presidents to from the intelligence community, it's rare for the conflict to spill into public view as it did this week.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檝e seen another president push back as strong as this guy has,鈥� Pfeiffer said.
Trump has a history of distrusting spy services
罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 , particularly when its assessments do not align with his worldview, dates back to even before his first term.
His 2016 campaign was shadowed by an investigation into whether his team had to sway the outcome of the election.
He was so infuriated by the scrutiny over connecting him to Russia that, one week before he was sworn in, he tweeted: 鈥淚ntelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to 鈥榣eak鈥� into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?鈥�
Trump disputed the assessment that Russia had interfered in the election on his behalf, decrying as a 鈥渉oax鈥� and a 鈥渨itch hunt鈥� an , which ultimately concluded the Trump campaign had welcomed Moscow鈥檚 help but did not find sufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy.
Trump also openly alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Helsinki summit in 2018.
鈥淚 have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淗e just said it鈥檚 not Russia. I will say this: I don鈥檛 see any reason why it would be.鈥�
Such public protestation takes its toll on an intelligence community that historically has endeavored to produce data-driven and apolitical judgments, said Frank Montoya Jr., a former FBI supervisor who served as director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really demoralizing because nobody is looking at this stuff from a political perspective. They鈥檙e looking at the data and they鈥檙e analyzing the data,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you get this kind of unfounded criticism, especially from the policymaker in chief, it just destroys morale.鈥�
Tensions with the intelligence community persist
Trump tapped loyalists to lead America's intelligence services in his second term 鈥� as director of national intelligence and as CIA director. They promised to end what they said was the weaponization of intelligence and root out disloyal officers.
But there have already been conflicts.
Last month, the National Intelligence Council in response to an open records request that said between the Venezuelan government and the Tren de Aragua gang, contradicting statements the Trump administration used to justify invoking the Alien Enemies Act and .
Gabbard later who led the council because of their perceived opposition to Trump.
More trouble came after the war between Israel and Iran began nearly two weeks ago.
to Congress in March that U.S. spy agencies did not believe Iran was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon. Trump insisted Iran was very close.
鈥淚 don't care what she said,鈥� he told reporters last week.
Gabbard later accused the news media of mischaracterizing her testimony, noting that she had mentioned Iran's large stockpile of enriched uranium that goes beyond levels needed for civilian uses.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program was peaceful, though the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that Tehran has enough highly enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chooses.
A preliminary report from the Defense Intelligence Agency that emerged this week said that while the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities , the facilities were not totally destroyed and the program was only set back by a few months.
The White House called the assessment 鈥渇lat-out wrong.鈥� The DIA said the initial findings will be refined as new information becomes available.
Given 罢谤耻尘辫鈥檚 skeptical view of intelligence officials, Pfeiffer said, 鈥渉is initial instinct is to assume that if the intelligence community is telling him something different than he would like it to be, that it鈥檚 because they鈥檙e trying to undermine him.鈥�
Trump team says there's no conflict
Gabbard and Ratcliffe have sought to brush off any perceived conflict between their agencies and Trump. Ratcliffe said Wednesday that new intelligence from a 鈥渉istorically reliable and accurate鈥� source reveals that U.S. strikes 鈥渄estroyed鈥� several of Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities that would require years to be rebuilt.
鈥淐IA continues to collect additional reliably sourced information to keep appropriate decision-makers and oversight bodies fully informed,鈥� Ratcliffe said in a statement. 鈥淲hen possible, we will also provide updates and information to the American public, given the national importance of this matter and in every attempt to provide transparency.鈥�
Gabbard noted the DIA assessment was of 鈥渓ow confidence,鈥� an acknowledgment by its authors that their conclusions could be mistaken.
鈥淭he propaganda media has deployed their usual tactic: selectively release portions of illegally leaked classified intelligence assessments,鈥� she wrote on X.
Trump narrated his own intelligence assessment while attending the . He mentioned satellite images showing the area around nuclear facilities 鈥渂urned black鈥� and said the underground tunnels had 鈥渁ll collapsed.鈥�
He also suggested Israel had sources on the ground in Iran: 鈥淭hey have guys that go in there after the hit鈥� to evaluate the damage.
The White House pointed to an Israel Atomic Energy Commission assessment that the U.S. and Israeli strikes have 鈥渟et back Iran鈥檚 ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years.鈥�
Assessing the US strike will take time
Intelligence officers routinely craft assessments about global threats and specific incidents 鈥� information vital to the decision-making of national security officials and lawmakers. Assessments are regularly updated as new intelligence is produced from sources including field agents, informants, open source material and secret surveillance.
The work is secretive to protect the methods and sources of intelligence agencies and to avoid becoming a political football.
Former intelligence officials said it's likely to take days, weeks, or even months to form a full picture of the impact of the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear capabilities.
鈥淚 would call for patience,鈥� said John Negroponte, a former ambassador who served as the first director of national intelligence under President George W. Bush. 鈥淎void the temptation to rush to judgment.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
David Klepper, Eric Tucker And Chris Megerian, The Associated Press
