Tulsi Gabbard left no doubt when she testified to Congress about Iran’s nuclear program earlier this year.
The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers, and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the dormant program even though it had enriched uranium to higher levels.
But Donald Trump dismissed the assessment of U.S. spy agencies during an overnight flight back to Washington as he cut short his trip to the Group of Seven summit to focus on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters. In his view, Iran was “very close” to having a nuclear bomb.
Russia only cared slightly, Trump blocked Russian sanctions already passed by Congress and stepped in to stop Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil and Russia will not burn such an asset for a minor partner catching this kind of heat (or any partner, since they “don’t have the cards” as Trump would say if he wasn’t a complete pushover for Putin)