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The Defense Intelligence Agency is disputing President Donald Trump's assessment that Iran's nuclear program was "obliterated," CNN reported Tuesday. Now that the White House is trying to spin the news, press secretary Karoline Leavitt is drawing ridicule from online critics.In a statement to CNN, Leavitt claimed, “This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community. The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration."The denial-non-denial drew swift mockery. CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene highlighted a key quote from the report, "The White House acknowledged the existence of the assessment but said they disagreed with it.”Rolling Stone politics reporter Nikki McCann Ramírez quipped, "There are moments when you can very clearly tell that Karoline Leavitt is a 27 year old and this right here is one of them.""I’m sorry, so she is admitting the assessment says what it says, she is admitting it’s so sensitive that they classified it as Top Secret, but they’re claiming it’s wrong? Are we classifying false information?" asked national security lawyer Bradly P. Moss. "One problem with 'everyone around Trump has to talk like Trump' is that the U.S. government is now loaded with officials incapable of basic communication. This is simply not a credible statement, and that's without taking into account that Karoline Leavitt lies about everything all the time," wrote defense attorney Max Kennerly on Bluesky."Don't miss this incredible spin from WH press sec Karoline Leavitt, who claims the US intel assessment is 'flat-out wrong,'" mocked Status News' Jon Passantino."Deeply unserious people," blasted film and television editor Jennifer Van Goethem. "Obliterated, not," joked former White House reporter Ron Fournier.Jim Roberts, contributing editor to The 74, agreed, citing Trump's characterization, "So, not 'totally obliterated.'" He also posted a photo of former President George W. Bush standing below a "Mission Accomplished" banner in 2003."It gets even better*: Karoline Leavitt is now saying this assessment is 'flat-out wrong' and leaked by a 'low-level loser,'" cited Stephen Rea, senior researcher at the Critical Internet Studies Institute. "*'Better' for people who like dark schadenfreude. Tbc, all of this is awful, hundreds of Iranian and Israeli civilians were killed, and it’s all indefensible."Author Don Winslow commented, "Notice the statement from @PressSec Karoline Leavitt does NOT say the assessment is fake or wrong. Its specific language actually confirms it is true. NOTHING was 'obliterated' Trump hyped it and lied like he does everything."However, Nadav Pollak, lecturer at Reichman University on the Middle East, criticized, "I have to say the speed in which US intel agencies leak to the press is truly insane. Now to the content of the assessment - I find it hard to rely on assessments without understanding the underlying intel sources. Is it based on Sigint? Visint? BDA analysis? (1) . Second, with all due respect to the DIA, isn’t it the same agency that 'assessed' that Kyiv will fall in 15 days? Or that Israel won’t be able to defeat Hezbollah? Or that Israel won’t be able to operate freely in #Iran? Maybe we should doubt more their assessments (2)"He urged folks to beware of "assessments," particularly when being leaked to the press. "And BTW, from my experience, sometimes it takes weeks for the country being bombed to even understand what damage was done, so I don't think we have definitive answers now. Wait several weeks before you deem it a failure (4)," he added.

White House must return Jordin Melgar-Salmeron, who was deported less than 30 minutes after his removal was barredAn appeals court has ordered the Trump administration to return a man wrongfully deported to El Salvador to the US and to explain how it is complying in a ruling apparently designed to break a pattern of apparent government defiance of judicial orders.The US court of appeals for the second circuit in New York also required the government to provide a declaration of the current whereabouts and custodial status of Jordin Melgar-Salmeron, who was deported on 7 May less than half an hour after the court had expressly barred his removal. Continue reading...

US president shares screenshot of congratulatory text message from Nato chief as he travels to summit in The HagueAnalysis: Summit set to be triumphant for Trump but deflating for UkraineWhittaker also says that he is expecting US president Donald Trump “might deliver some remarks” on his views on the summit, as he stresses that “we need to make sure that everyone’s investing in the common defence of the Alliance.”“I don’t want to … sort of … steal what he might say, nor do I claim to be able to read his mind and know what he’s going to say. But I think he has demonstrated through, again, decisive action leading to peace.”“And again, that’s good for Europe, because there’s been a lot of irregular flows of migrants through Europe, from the Middle East because of the instability. And so hopefully, with Syria now appearing to be stable, with Iran, maybe in check a little more than they had been, I think we could really see a generational moment here where the Middle East is more stable than it has been in a while.”“That strength is what’s going to deliver peace for generations to come, because no one will want to mess with Nato and the Alliance.”“I have said that many times, and I know you have heard me say it, the United States is going to be a reliable ally, and as you see, and as you’ve seen over the last several days, the United States has certain capabilities that you want an alliance to have.”“We’ve never been more engaged, that’s the thing. I sound like a broken record, and I am sure there are people in this room that have heard me say this in many different places, whether it’s in Estonia or Latvia or in Turkey wherever I’ve been. Continue reading...

The government’s new security strategy said it has to actively prepare for potential wartime scenariosBritain needs to prepare for the possibility of being attacked on its own soil, the government has warned in its security strategy, laying out in stark terms the range of threats ministers say the UK now faces.Russia’s military buildup and Iran’s increasing attacks on dissidents abroad mean the country could soon find itself involved in a domestic war, the review says. Continue reading...