Trump: ‘I don’t care’ that Tulsi Gabbard said Iran wasn’t close to having nuclear weapon

President Trump rejected his own director of national intelligence’s assessment of Iran’s nuclear capabilities in remarks as he returned from the Group of Seven summit in Alberta, Canada, a day early to weigh America’s response to escalating airstrikes between Israel and Iran.

Tulsi Gabbard testified before Congress in March that while Iran had an “unprecedented” stockpile of weapons-grade uranium, the country did not appear to be building a nuclear weapon.

“I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One in the wee hours of Tuesday morning in response to a direct question about Gabbard’s testimony.

The intelligence community, Gabbard said in March, “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.”

“In the past year, we’ve seen an erosion of a decades-long taboo in Iran on discussing nuclear weapons in public, likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran’s decisionmaking apparatus,” Gabbard said. “Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”

CNN reported Tuesday that American intelligence assessments continued to say Iran was not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon and was up to three years out from being able to launch one. Israel has claimed Iran was approaching a crucial tipping point for developing nuclear capabilities as justification for its airstrikes.

Trump’s remarks come as the White House weighs whether to wade into the conflict. While the United States could assist Israel in other ways, American “bunker-buster” bombs are believed to be necessary to significantly damage a key Iranian uranium enrichment plant that Israel is targeting.

Gabbard insisted to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that her testimony in March was consistent with Trump.

“What President Trump is saying is the same thing I said in my annual threat assessment in March to Congress,” she said.