Tulsi Gabbard Won’t Support Trump Claim, Tells Senator “That’s Right”
During her Senate testimony on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was asked by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to confirm details from her opening statement, in which Gabbard made clear that it was the assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community that Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S., that Iran’s nuclear capability had been obliterated by U.S. attacks last June, and that Iran had made no effort since to rebuild its nuclear enrichment capability in the interim.
Gabbard’s explicit claim that Iran did not try to rebuild its nuclear capability — key to Ossoff’s questioning — were in direct contrast to President Trump’s February 28 remarks, when Trump used the word nuclear 11 times and said specifically that after June’s Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran “attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.”
Ossoff: So the assessment of the intelligence community is that Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated by last summer's airstrikes?
Gabbard: Yes.
Ossoff: Your statement stated: there has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.… pic.twitter.com/VH9yEZgj7S
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 18, 2026
In the video clip above, Ossoff addressed Gabbard saying: “You noted in your opening statement that you’re here fulfilling a statutory obligation and that your testimony, quote, represents the IC’s assessment of threats.”
“That’s right,” Gabbard responded.
Ossoff then read from Gabbard’s opening statement, in which she explicitly asserted that — contrary to what President Trump personally determined before launching the attacks — the Intelligence Community (IC) did not consider Iran an imminent threat to the United States at this time, a position that aligned with the reasoning for the resignation this week of counterterrorism head Joe Kent, who worked under Gabbard. (Read more from “Tulsi Gabbard Won’t Support Trump Claim, Tells Senator “That’s Right” HERE)
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
