International

Gabbard says her and Trump’s stance not contradictory

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard insisted on Tuesday there was no daylight between President Donald Trump’s assessment that Iran on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon and her own prior characterisation that Iran was not building one.

“President Trump was saying the same thing that I said in my annual threat assessment back in March in Congress. Unfortunately, too many people in the media don’t care to actually read what I said,” Gabbard told reporters as she arrived on Capitol Hill for an appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

What she said previously: Gabbard testified in March that the US intelligence community “continues to assess Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorised a nuclear weapons programme that he suspended in 2003.” But on Air Force One this morning, Trump told reporters he believed Iran was “very close” to getting such a weapon.

Asked of if she and Trump are on the same page, Gabbard told CNN: “We are on the same page.”

Source: CNN