Donald Trump has spoken. And as so often in his second term, what he says is less an assessment than a command \u2013 and less a truth than an act of will. Iran, the US president declared on the return flight from the aborted G7 summit, is \u201cvery close\u201d to having a nuclear bomb. A statement that directly contradicts the assessment of his own intelligence agencies. Agencies that were created to provide facts, to evaluate risks soberly, and not to flatter the whims of a narcissistic power figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, had testified before Congress in March that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program that was suspended in 2003. Gabbard acknowledged unprecedented levels of enriched uranium \u2013 yes \u2013 but also emphasized that there was no indication of military intent. That Trump casually dismissed this carefully constructed intelligence conclusion \u2013 saying \u201cI don\u2019t care what she said\u201d \u2013 was no slip. It is strategy. Once again, analysis does not define reality \u2013 political usefulness does. And once again, Trump places himself not only above the law but above knowledge itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n