--- title: Trump's Public Rebuke of Tulsi Gabbard's Statement on Iran description: Trump told reporters that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was "wrong" regarding her testimony. canonical: https://time.com/7296421/trump-public-rebuke-tulsi-gabbard-iran-nuclear-weapon-statement/ author: Rebecca Schneid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-06-21T18:42:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-06-22T22:41:42.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Public Rebuke of Tulsi Gabbard's Statement on Iran og:description: Trump told reporters that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was "wrong." og:url: https://time.com/7296421/trump-public-rebuke-tulsi-gabbard-iran-nuclear-weapon-statement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec94dedff4b5b7e8/6998c7b307a30d3a3977d1cc/GettyImages-2168360424.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2988 og:image:height: 1681 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Public Rebuke of Tulsi Gabbard's Statement on Iran twitter:description: Trump told reporters that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was "wrong." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec94dedff4b5b7e8/6998c7b307a30d3a3977d1cc/GettyImages-2168360424.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Breaking Down Trump's Public Rebuke of Tulsi Gabbard's Statement on Iran—and Her Response > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Updated: Jun 22, 2025 10:41 PM UTCPublished: Jun 21, 2025 6:42 PM UTC  President Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard are pictured during a town hall meeting in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Aug. 29, 2024. President Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard are pictured during a town hall meeting in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Aug. 29, 2024.Kamil Krzaczynski—Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Updated: Jun 22, 2025 10:41 PM UTCPublished: Jun 21, 2025 6:42 PM UTC Ahead of launching [U.S. strikes at three Iranian nuclear sites](https://time.com/7296469/u-s-strikes-iran-nuclear-trump-war/), President Donald Trump had said that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was "wrong" to say that Iran is not currently building a [nuclear weapon](https://time.com/7295632/israel-strikes-iran-nuclear-site-program/). When asked about the claims made by his intelligence community, specifically Gabbard, Trump was clear, telling reporters on Friday: [“She’s wrong.”](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1096464402326812/) In March, Gabbard testified in front of Congress that the intelligence community \[IC\] “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader \[Ali\] Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003\. The IC continues to monitor, closely, if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program." The testimony resurfaced as Trump weighed his options regarding U.S. involvement in [the Israel-Iran conflict](https://time.com/7295798/new-middle-east-time-cover/). **Read More**: [_Iran Delivers Furious Warning, Speaks of ‘Unprecedented Level of Danger and Chaos’ After ‘Heinous’ U.S. Strikes_](https://time.com/7296512/iran-responds-united-states-strikes-trump-nuclear-sites-warning/) Trump’s latest comments echo those he made to reporters on Air Force One on June 17, when he said he did not “care” about what Gabbard had testified earlier in the year. “I don’t care what she said, I think they were very close to having one,”[ Trump said](https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/17/politics/video/trump-gabbard-iran-nuclear-weapons-collins-digvid) of his belief that Iran was inching towards having a nuclear weapon. Central to Trump’s stance regarding Israel’s initial assault on Iran is his belief that Iran has been [moving closer to nuclear capability](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FAMw2CUzwZ8). He plainly said that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” Trump’s stance, bolstered by a [May 31 International Atomic Energy Agency report](https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/25/06/gov2025-25.pdf) (that stated Iran had accumulated roughly 120 kg of uranium enriched to 60%, dangerously close to weapons-grade levels of 90%), undermines previous reports by U.S. intelligence, including that of Gabbard, a former Democrat. **Read More**: [_How Netanyahu Pushed Trump Toward War_](https://time.com/7295726/netanyahu-trump-israel-iran-nuclear-strikes/) In response to Trump’s new assertion that she was “wrong” in her previous testimony, Gabbard [took to social media](https://x.com/DNIGabbard/status/1936174674595008517) on Friday, stating that her words had been taken out of context by "dishonest media." Gabbard maintains that she and Trump are on the same page. "The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division," Gabbard said. "America 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. President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree." Attached to the post was a longer video of her testimony, which also included her claims that “Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.” **Read More**: [_‘Gravely Alarmed’ World Leaders React After U.S. Strikes Iran_](https://time.com/7296530/united-states-strikes-iran-world-leaders-react/) Trump reportedly still has “full confidence” in his intelligence team, [according to](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/17/gabbard-trump-00411685) White House communications director Steven Cheung, but the open disagreements between Trump and members of his Administration signal splinters over the Israel-Iran conflict. The President faced questions from both within and outside the Republican party, as he weighed up his options about whether the [U.S. would intervene](https://time.com/7295726/netanyahu-trump-israel-iran-nuclear-strikes/) in the conflict, despite him campaigning on staying out of wars overseas. Following the U.S. strikes, leaders outside of the U.S. have spoken out, with some expressing they are "[gravely alarmed](https://time.com/7296530/united-states-strikes-iran-world-leaders-react/)" by the escalation. Meanwhile, Gabbard—in an apparent show of support—reposted Trump's announcement about the U.S. strikes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7296421/trump-public-rebuke-tulsi-gabbard-iran-nuclear-weapon-statement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7296421/trump-public-rebuke-tulsi-gabbard-iran-nuclear-weapon-statement/"},"headline":"Breaking Down Trump's Public Rebuke of Tulsi Gabbard's Statement on Iran—and Her Response","datePublished":"2025-06-21T18:42:03.000Z","dateModified":"2025-06-22T22:41:42.000Z","description":"Trump told reporters that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was \"wrong\" regarding her testimony in March.","url":"https://time.com/7296421/trump-public-rebuke-tulsi-gabbard-iran-nuclear-weapon-statement/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec94dedff4b5b7e8/6998c7b307a30d3a3977d1cc/GettyImages-2168360424.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Schneid","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec94dedff4b5b7e8/6998c7b307a30d3a3977d1cc/GettyImages-2168360424.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP","caption":"US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP","creditText":"Kamil Krzaczynski—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7296421/trump-public-rebuke-tulsi-gabbard-iran-nuclear-weapon-statement/","name":"Breaking Down Trump's Public Rebuke of Tulsi Gabbard's Statement on Iran—and Her Response"}}]}] ```