Fatma Zehra Solmaz
June 25, 2025•Update: June 25, 2025
ISTANBUL
US President Donald Trump slammed CNN on Tuesday, accusing it of spreading false information following a report by the news network on a preliminary US intelligence assessment.
"FAKE NEWS CNN, TOGETHER WITH THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES, HAVE TEAMED UP IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY. THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! BOTH THE TIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The CNN report cited an early US intelligence assessment indicating that US strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities failed to destroy key components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by a few months.
Earlier, Trump shared remarks his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff made to Fox News.
“We put 12 bunker buster bombs on Fordo. There’s no doubt that it breached the canopy. There’s no doubt that it was well within reach of the depth that these bunker buster bombs go to, and there’s no doubt that it was obliterated. So the reporting out there that in some way suggests that we did not achieve the objective is just completely preposterous!” Witkoff said, referring to Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility.
Supporting this position, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told CNN that “our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons,” further emphasizing that “the impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran.”
He added that any claims minimizing the strikes’ effectiveness are attempts to “undermine the president and the successful mission.”
Despite the official statements, the CNN report quoted sources indicating that Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium were not destroyed, while another source noted that the centrifuges used for enrichment remain largely "intact."
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran took effect at 0400 GMT on Tuesday, ending the 12-day war.
Both countries pledged not to break the truce unless provoked, despite earlier accusations of violations. However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered intense strikes on Tehran, alleging that Iran broke the ceasefire, which it denied, warning of a strong response to any new attacks.
Trump said he did not believe the ceasefire was broken but expressed frustration with Israel.
“I'm not happy with Israel. When I say, ‘OK, now you have 12 hours,’ you don't go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either,” he said, according to CNN.
“But I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning because of one rocket that didn't land, that was shot, perhaps by mistake, that didn't land. I'm not happy about that.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the (expletive deleted) they're doing. Do you understand that?” he added.
