Word salad.... "It could be severe, or maybe it’s not severe, I would say. They used the word severe, it could be severe, or maybe it’s not.."

Early intel report that says US strikes only set back Iran's nuclear program by months is "unfinished"

From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury

President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeatedly undercut early US intelligence assessments on the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities that said the attack did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program.

Asked by a reporter what his message is to the intelligence community Trump said: “They presented a report that wasn’t finished. We’re talking about something that took place three days ago.”

“They didn’t see it. All they can do is take a guess,” he added.

Trump repeated that the nuclear facility has “been obliterated, totally obliterated.”

He then asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to speak on the strike. Hegseth deflected and said questioning the severity of the strike is an insult to the team that carried out the operation. He also echoed Trump’s attacks on media outlets, including CNN, which first reported on the intelligence report.

The president also said the pilots were “devastated” by the reports, accusing media outlets of trying to minimize the impact of the operation.

“You should be proud of those pilots and you shouldn’t be trying to demean them. Those pilots flew at great risk,” he said.

Trump added that he doesn’t really have a message for the intelligence community.

“I don’t really have a message, I would say, issue the report when you know what happened. I wouldn’t say, ‘it could be severe, or maybe not.’ They used the word severe, it could be severe, or maybe it’s not. So, people like you picked up and said, ‘oh it’s not severe.’ The report was not a complete report,” he said.