Trump grapples for upper hand in debate over damage caused by U.S. strikes on Iran

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — President Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected an early intelligence assessment that U.S. strikes inflicted only a marginal setback on Iran's nuclear program, insisting that his country's spies did not have the full picture and defending his own swift conclusion that American bombs and missiles delivered a crushing blow.

''This was a devastating attack, and it knocked them for a loop,'' Trump said as his administration scrambled to support his claims, made only hours after the attack, that Iranian nuclear facilities were ''completely and fully obliterated.''

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military officials plan to hold a Thursday morning news conference to respond, according to Trump, who said in a post on social media Wednesday evening that the officials would speak ''in order to fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots. These Patriots were very upset!''

He said the news conference ''will prove both interesting and irrefutable.''

The issue dominated Trump's attendance at NATO's annual summit in the Netherlands, which was otherwise focused on European security. The White House highlighted an Israeli statement that Iran's nuclear efforts were delayed by years, much longer than the few months determined by American intelligence. A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry also said the facilities has suffered significant damage.

But those comments fell short of Trump's hyperbole and did little to suggest that U.S. strikes had eliminated the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in an interview with Politico, limited his own assessment to saying Iran was ''much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action.''

Drawing reliable conclusions about the impact of the U.S. strikes remains difficult, especially only days after they took place. That makes the issue a breeding ground for competing claims that could determine how American voters view Trump's risky decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran.

Jeffrey Lewis, a professor of nonproliferation at the Middlebury Institute, said Trump was trying to have it both ways.

''If it's too early to know, why is Trump saying it's obliterated?'' he said. ''Either it's too early to know, or you know.''

Also at stake are Trump's next steps in the Middle East, where diplomatic efforts could be required to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program.

Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials would meet soon, resuming a dialogue that was interrupted by nearly two weeks of war, even as he suggested that negotiations were no longer necessary.

''I don't care if I have an agreement or not," Trump said, because Iran was too badly damaged to even consider rebuilding its program. ''They're not going to be doing it anyway. They've had it.''

Iran maintains that its atomic ambitions are for peaceful purposes, while U.S. and Israeli leaders have described the country's nuclear program as the precursor to obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The episode has triggered some of Trump's longstanding vendettas against leaks and intelligence officials, whom he has often viewed as a part of a ''deep state'' dedicated to undermining his agenda. He also lashed out at media outlets that reported on the classified assessment, describing them as ''scum'' and ''disgusting.''

The intelligence assessment was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is part of the Pentagon. Out of all the country's spy services, it's usually "the fastest on the draw'' to produce preliminary results, said Frank Montoya, a former counterintelligence leader.

''They have to respond quickly to what the war fighters are looking for, but those preliminary assessments are still based on information that's out there,'' Montoya said.

Leon Panetta, who held top national security roles under President Barack Obama, said it's too soon to have a more complete understanding of the strikes' impact.

''Bottom line is, that's going to take an extended period of time, at least a number of weeks, before we have a full assessment of the damage done by the attack," Panetta said.

Trump said questioning the effectiveness of the strikes was disrespectful to the military, which flew stealth bombers halfway around the world to attack the nuclear facilities with weapons designed to penetrate deep underground.

The reports, he said, were ''very unfair to the pilots, who risked their lives for our country.''

He described the American attack as a definitive conclusion to what he's dubbed ''the 12-day war,'' much like the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki heralded the end of World War II.

''That ended that war,'' he said. ''This ended the war.''

During a news conference, Trump briefly ceded the stage to Hegseth, who also lashed out at the media.

''There's a reason the president calls out the fake news for what it is,'' he said. Hegseth said reporters were using a leaked intelligence assessment to politically damage Trump.

''They want to spin it to try to make him look bad,'' he said.

Trump pointed to satellite photos that showed the area around the nuclear facilities was ''burned black,'' and he said that underground tunnels where uranium was enriched and stored were ''all collapsed.'' He also suggested that Israel had sources on the ground in Iran, saying ''they have guys that go in there after the hit'' to evaluate the damage.

The bombing ''rendered the enrichment facility inoperable," according to a statement distributed by the White House and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The American strikes, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program, have "set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years,'' the Israel Atomic Energy Commission said.

In addition, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera that there was significant damage from U.S. bombers.

''Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure,'' he said.

One critical question is whether enriched uranium, which could be developed into fuel for a nuclear bomb, was moved out of facilities before the U.S. strikes.

''I believe they didn't have a chance to get anything out, because we acted fast,'' Trump said. He added that ''it's very hard to move that kind of material, and very dangerous.''

In the wake of the leak, the White House going forward intends to try to limit the sharing of classified documents with Congress, according to a senior White House official.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide detail on how the administration would go about limiting the flow of classified information to lawmakers.

The move, first reported by Axios, seems certain to be challenged by members of Congress.

Classified briefings for lawmakers, originally scheduled for Tuesday, are now expected to take place Thursday and Friday.

____ Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Aamer Madhani and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.