Trump Angrily Calls for CNN to Fire Reporter Over Story on Iran Nuclear Strikes: She Should Be ‘Thrown Out Like a Dog'
On Tuesday, CNN was first to report that Trump's military strikes on three of Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend 'did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program and likely only set it back by months,' citing 'an early US intelligence assessment' produced by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency. Other news outlets, including the New York Times, the Associated Press and ABC News, matched the network's reporting.
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President Trump Declares Iran's Nuclear Facilities Are 'Completely and Totally Obliterated' in Live Address to Nation Following Airstrikes
Trump has insisted that the U.S. military strikes on Iran resulted in the 'total obliteration' of the regime's nuclear weapons program. At the same time, Trump told reporters at a NATO summit on Wednesday, 'The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says, 'We don't know, it could have been very severe' — that's what the intelligence says.'
On Wednesday, Trump unleashed a new rant aimed at CNN national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand, one of the reporters on the story.
'Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out 'like a dog,'' the president wrote on Truth Social, the platform operated by Trump Media & Technology Group.
In the post, Trump referred to a story Bertrand had written for Politico in 2020. That article said, 'More than 50 former senior intelligence officials have signed on to a letter outlining their belief that the recent disclosure of emails allegedly belonging to Joe Biden's son 'has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.'' Following the New York Post's initial report about Hunter Biden's laptop in October of that year, other news outlets including the New York Times and Politico have reported that the laptop did belong to Hunter Biden and the documents on it were authentic.
'She lied on the Laptop from Hell Story, and now she lied on the Nuclear Sites Story, attempting to destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad when, in fact, they did a GREAT job and hit 'pay dirt' — TOTAL OBLITERATION!' Trump said in the post. 'She should not be allowed to work at Fake News CNN. It's people like her who destroyed the reputation of a once great Network. Her slant was so obviously negative, besides, she doesn't have what it takes to be an on camera correspondent, not even close. FIRE NATASHA!'
In a statement about Trump's rant, CNN said, 'We stand 100% behind Natasha Bertrand's journalism and specifically her and her colleagues' reporting of the early intelligence assessment of the U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. CNN's reporting made clear that this was an initial finding that could change with additional intelligence. We have extensively covered President Trump's own deep skepticism about it. However, we do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest.'
Bertrand is one of three CNN reporters with bylines on the story, alongside Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen.
In an earlier statement sent to Variety, a spokesperson for the news outlet said, 'CNN stands by our thorough reporting on an early intelligence assessment of the recent strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, which has since been confirmed by other news organizations. The White House has acknowledged the existence of the assessment, and their statement is included in our story.'
Earlier Wednesday, Trump lashed out at both CNN and the New York Times. 'We just caught the Failing New York Times, working with Fake News CNN, cheating again!' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'They tried to demean the great work our B-2 pilots did, and they were wrong in doing so. These reporters are just BAD AND SICK PEOPLE. You would think they would be proud of the great success we had, instead of trying to always make our Country look bad. TOTAL OBLITERATION!'
That came after he wrote in a post Tuesday evening, 'FAKE NEWS CNN, TOGETHER WITH THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES, HAVE TEAMED UP IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY. THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! BOTH THE TIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!'
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Los Angeles Times
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U.S. and European Union announce a trade framework
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Axios
a few seconds ago
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Some Republicans aren't backing down from Epstein transparency push
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UPI
2 minutes ago
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State Department to burn birth control worth $9.7M meant for poor nations
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U.S. laws and rules prohibit sending U.S. aid to organizations that provide abortion services, counsel about the procedure or advocate for the right overseas. "The State Department confirms that a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain abortifacient birth control commodities from terminated Biden-era USAID contracts," a spokesperson said in a statement. "Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal. No HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed." The destruction will cost $167,000, the spokesperson said. Most contraceptives have less than 70% of shelf life before expiration, the spokesperson said. The Guardian contacted an aide who visited the warehouse in Belgium and found the earliest expiration date was 2027. Two-thirds didn't have any labels. Belgium, the United Nations and humanitarian groups said they unsuccessfully stopped the destruction plans for the contraceptives. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump disbanded and merged into the State Department, was to have distributed them. They are part of a $9.5 billion program over 10 years to provide aid to more than 40 nations. The government said it based its decision on a policy that restricts funding for reproductive-related actions in the Mexico City Policy and the Kemp-Kasten amendment. President Ronald Reagan instituted the policy in 1985 and it has become a political issue. It has rescinded by Democratic presidents and reinstated by Republicans several times, including by President Donald Trump when he returned to office in January. A bipartisan group of U.S. legislators doesn't want the contraceptives to be destroyed, including Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Brian Schatz of Hawaii. 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"The complete dismantling of the world's largest donor for international family planning has been a catastrophe for the global supply chain of contraceptives," said Sarah Shaw, associate director of advocacy and for the organization. Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced an increase in teen births, according to a study at Columbia University in 2024. The number of births climbed from 4.5 million births in 2000 to 6.1 million in 2021as they decreased in the rest of the world. In Africa, 30% of all woman use birth control but more than half would use it if available, according to DebboAfrica, a healthcare company for African women. Worldwide, around half of women of reproductive age of 15-19 use some form of contraception, according to Focus2030. Foreign aid cuts could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2023, including two-thirds children, according to a study published in Lancet earlier this month. Congress earlier this month passed legislation to remove $8 billion in foreign assistance. The Atlantic reported earlier this month that 551 tons of emergency food were expiring and will be incinerated rather than being fed to almost 1.5 million children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Almost 800,000 Mpox vaccines to be sent to Africa also are not usable because they are past their expiration date, Politico reported earlier this month.
