CNN defended journalist Natasha Bertrand on Wednesday after President Donald Trump called for the news network to fire her over coverage of his military action in Iran.
“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,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement posted to social media. “CNN’s reporting made clear that this was an initial finding the could change with additional intelligence. We have extensively covered President Trump’s own deep skepticism about it.”
The statement continued: “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.”
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) June 25, 2025
Bertrand and CNN’s coverage came from a leaked report out of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency that found Trump’s unauthorized bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend caused minimal damage, despite the president’s claims that they were “totally obliterated.”
The assessment also found Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, a key component to crafting a nuclear weapon, was not destroyed. It concluded that, in all likelihood, the country’s nuclear program was only set back by a few months.
The Trump administration, on the other hand, said the attack was successful and completely destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities. Trump doubled down on his stance by referring to CNN’s report as “fake news” and calling on the network to fire her.
“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,’” Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday. “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!”
The president continued: “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!”
Bertrand’s coverage, which was co-authored with Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen, took into account that the DIA report was based off of an initial assessment and might change with new findings. The article noted that “the analysis of the damage to the sites and the impact of the strikes” was ongoing and “could change as more intelligence becomes available.” However, the journalists’ reporting added the success being touted by Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was at odds with what the Pentagon found and that the site had not been “obliterated.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced the Pentagon’s report in a post on X, saying it was “flat-out wrong” and “was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.”
🚨FAKE NEWS CNN STRIKES AGAIN:
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) June 24, 2025
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…
On Wednesday, Israel said it had conducted it’s own assessment of the bombs’ damage and that its findings supported Trump.
“We assess that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran’s military nuclear program, has set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years,” a statement from Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) declared. The statement was also shared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
