In a fiery press conference Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine dismantled the media’s latest effort to downplay President Donald Trump’s devastating airstrike on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, accusing CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times of pushing a misleading narrative based on a low-confidence, preliminary leak from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

“This report was leaked by someone with an agenda,” Hegseth said. “It was designed to muddy the water and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful. That’s a lie.”

According to Hegseth, Iran was preparing retaliatory attacks on U.S. bases before the strikes, prompting swift military action and the evacuation of most American personnel. The Secretary emphasized that the damage assessment leaked to the press was incomplete, unvetted, and based on “linchpin assumptions” that, if incorrect, would render the entire report worthless.

“If your linchpin is wrong, your whole premise is wrong,” Hegseth explained. “And this particular DIA report admits it is based on low-confidence intelligence and not coordinated across the intelligence community.”

Instead of relying on cherry-picked leaks, Hegseth cited a wave of credible assessments confirming the success of Operation Midnight Hammer, including:

• The Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, which stated Fordow was “destroyed” and left “inoperable.”
• U.N. nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi, who confirmed the strikes caused “enormous damage” to Iran’s nuclear program.
• CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who issued a rare public statement confirming “credible intelligence” showing that multiple Iranian facilities were obliterated and will take “years” to rebuild.
• DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who reiterated that all three targeted sites—Natanz, Fordow, and Esfahan—were “destroyed.”
• David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, who said the strike wiped out Iran’s centrifuge enrichment capability.

General Caine added that early warnings of an Iranian counterstrike made the operation even more urgent and justified the rapid scale of the mission.

But the most scathing part of Hegseth’s remarks came as he confronted the D.C. press corps directly:

“You — and I mean specifically you, the press corps — cheer against Trump so hard, it’s in your DNA,” he said. “You want him not to be successful so bad, you have to choose to cheer against the efficacy of the strikes.”

He accused the corporate media of choosing to believe a vague, early-stage intelligence leak over multiple sources of confirmed, expert analysis — simply because it fit their anti-Trump narrative.

“Time and time again, those who understand the field, who do proper assessment, recognize what the U.S. military accomplished was historic,” Hegseth concluded.

The FBI is now investigating who leaked the faulty preliminary report to the media, as Trump officials continue their crackdown on intelligence community saboteurs.