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The issues raised by the issue surrounding the U.S. strike at Iran’s nuclear site has raised concerns on Capitol Hill and more may happen.
President Trump insisted that Saturday’s strike on three Iranian nuclear facilities had unlimited success, “eliminating” Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and resuming the plan for many years. Trump’s National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe made the claim Wednesday.
According to many news reports, U.S. intelligence officials at the Department of Defense conducted very different assessments, saying the attacks failed to destroy Iran’s wealthy uranium or its nuclear infrastructure. Pentagon analysts estimate that the strike will be re-determined as months rather than years.
The government’s ambivalent message has sparked confusion over the effectiveness of attacks and new anxiety, and Trump may intervene further if the initial mission is found to have failed to meet its target.
“Actually, has Iran’s nuclear program been completely eliminated?” asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.). “There is obviously reason to believe this is a blatant misrepresentation by Donald Trump to the American people.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a senior Democrat of the Homeland Security Council, said a sharp contrast between Trump’s claims and reports detailing the preliminary assessment of the Pentagon Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), a branch of the Pentagon has raised lawmakers about Trump’s ability to order other strikes to eliminate any mission to eliminate the task.
“We let the president say one thing… based on DIA analysis, things are different,” Thompson said. “His approach could cause us trouble. If we don’t strengthen the diplomatic game, then all bets will collapse.
“The worst thing we need is wider conflict.”
To exacerbate concerns and uncertainty, Trump has been joining Congress in the darkness surrounding Saturday’s strike. On Tuesday, administration officials planned to briefly introduce House and Senate members in this action, but they canceled the meeting in advance. The meeting was rescheduled later this week, with meetings prepared for the House on Thursday and Friday – but some lawmakers questioned whether they would happen.
“As a member of Congress and a ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have to respect: I have no clues,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (DN.Y.). “This administration is not communicating.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said it was impossible to know how the famous impulsive president would eventually react to the revelation, that the Pentagon’s assessment clashed with his Ross narrative. In one case, the reaction could involve more strikes against Iran. In another, Trump may just claim victory and move on.
“He could use this news to do everything he could,” Frost said. “He might follow (Iran) again, but that admits that the first strike was not really resolved as he said – he said he completely destroyed Iran. Another option for him was to say: ‘(DIAANALYSTS) is wrong, we did it, and then move on.”
He added: “No one knows what happened, not even people in his own government.”
Complicating any of Trump’s decisions, the initial strike and his hints of regime change, cut off the magazine movement that formed the basis of his support.
Some of these loyalists support the strike, encouraged by Trump’s promise to make them once and for all, which won’t be struggling in another marathon of the Middle East conflict. Others are outraged that Trump will launch new military operations in the region, believing it as a betrayal of the “America First” agenda that swept the White House in 2016 and once again swept him in 2024.
“It feels like a complete bait to please the new Conservatives, uniformers, military industry complex contracts, and the new guardians who hate, never exaggerate people!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), one of Trump’s most determined congressional allies, posted earlier this week on social platform X.
Some of these Republicans (including Green) cheered Trump’s efforts to ceasefire between Iran and Israel on Tuesday, the latest sign of loyalty the president has won from his party, but there is also a signal that they may be unhappy with any further escalation.
Saturday’s strike came in a two-week conflict between Israel and Iran, targeting three Iranian nuclear sites to eliminate Tehran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. Trump did not waste his time claiming victory, saying the mission “completely and completely eliminated” Tehran’s nuclear capabilities.
But the DIA’s preliminary assessment was first reported by CNN on Tuesday, finding Trump’s own Pentagon intelligence officials were even more suspicious. They found that Iran’s nuclear enrichment plan remained intact and suggested that some existing enriched uranium had been moved to other locations before the strike.
Both the president and senior administration officials oppose the DIA’s assessment and reporting news publications.
“The real scum comes out and the reports written are negative,” Trump said at a NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
National intelligence chief Gabbard’s assessment of Iran’s nuclear capabilities recently clashed with Trump’s assessment, who supported the president on Wednesday, saying all three target sites were “destroyed” and “may take years” to rebuild. She accused the “propaganda media” of picking the cherry slices from the DIA report to abandon Trump badly.
Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill are also eager to defend, saying they believe in the bureaucratic president of the Pentagon and the news media.
“They called it fake news,” said Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas). “I think the report is wrong.”
Meanwhile, most Democrats say they don’t trust Trump at all.
“He lied again,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). “I don’t trust him, I don’t trust him, we need to try to realize the truth from what happened.”
The dispute over the effectiveness of Saturday’s strike is that a growing number of lawmakers have pushed for war power resolutions aimed at blocking further military operations in Iran without explicitly approving Congress.
“What he did the other day was a war. The act of war—he said a one-time military tour, did not obviously have the impact he claimed,” said Rep. “We just can’t rely on Donald Trump as a sober, conscious president who has engaged this country in military conflict without Congress’ approval.”