Trump, Hegseth Slam news coverage from the Intel US report on Iranian attacks, say the B-2 pilot upset

President Donald Trump and Defense Minister Pete Hegseth on Wednesday both tried to fight the initial US intelligence assessment that the attack on three Iran’s nuclear facilities made limited damage by claiming the news account from the report to demean the B-2 pilot who dropped bombs.

Speaking at a press conference because he was determined to leave the NATO Summit in the Netherlands, Trump claimed the pilot was “destroyed” with that suggestion that the strike was unsuccessful.

He was asked several times Wednesday regarding the initial assessment of the defense intelligence agency that the bombing of Natanz, Isfahan and Forto facilities was likely to re -establish Iran’s nuclear programs for only a few months. He acknowledged the receipt of the report but noted it was incomplete.

He yelled at reporters who asked questions about it, repeating his claims of the Iranian nuclear program “eliminated,” and shifted the focus to the pilot who made the strike.

“You must praise the people instead of trying to find out by getting me by trying to leave and pick me up. You hurt those people,” Trump told reporters.

Then Wednesday, in a real social post, he said Hegseth would hold a press conference on Thursday morning “to fight for our great American pilot dignity.”

“They feel very bad! Luckily for them and, as usual, solely for the purpose of demeaning President Donald J. Trump,” he said in part. “The press conference will be proven attractive and undeniable.”

The President claimed in a Dutch press conference that he had received a call from Missouri, where the pilots were based, about intelligence reports and news accounts about it, saying that he had been told that they were “destroyed, because they tried to minimize the attack.”

“I talked to one of them. He said, ‘Sir, we reached the site. That’s perfect. It’s dead,’ because they don’t understand fake news,” Trump said.

Pentagon referred questions from ABC News to the White House.

Trump added about the pilot that “They were destroyed. They risk their lives.”

Since the attack on Saturday, Trump and his officials have repeatedly praised the B-2 pilot for the mission but stepped up referring to them as part of the pushback on Wednesday. Hegseth, standing next to Trump, came to the microphone to debate reporters and outlets “No matter what troops think.”

“These pilots, this fuel filling, these warriors, these aerial defenders, the skills and courage needed to enter the enemy territory that flies 36 hours on behalf of American people in the world to take nuclear programs is outside what can be understood by anyone in this hearing,” Hegseth said.

At the same time, Hegseth and Trump reduce the initial findings of the report about damage.

“The report said what he said and it was fine. That’s severe, according to them, but they do not know. They should not issue reports until they do it, but we get information,” Trump said.

Trump previously quoted the Israeli intelligence report that he insisted on assessing “the strike of the former destroying the critical infrastructure of the site and making enrichment facilities completely unfurled.”

Military officials said there was no doubt that the site was damaged significantly, but that the “evaluation of the battle damage” would require time to be completed, because no Western officials could personally examine the site on Wednesday.

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement posted on X Wednesday night that “Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed,” and also slamming news media. A source with knowledge about Gabbard’s assessment told ABC News that the description came from the new US intelligence.

“Propaganda media has mobilized their usual tactics: Selectively released parts of secret intelligence assessments that leaked illegally (deliberately leaving the fact that the assessment was written with” low self -confidence “) to try to damage the leadership of President Trump who determined and people who were sleepy, and people who were sleepy, and people who did not have people -Inless flawless to execute American people who are truly -Really without defects to execute truly American people -truly without flagless

Hegseth argues that the report and initial image speak themselves.

“So, if you want to make an assessment of what happened to the former, you should get a large shovel and become very deep because the Iranian nuclear program was eliminated and someone in a place tried to leak something to say, ‘Oh, with low confidence we think maybe moderate,” he said.

-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson, Kelsey Walsh and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.