“FIRE NATASHA!”: Trump wants CNN’s Natasha Bertrand fired after report on Iranian strikes

President Donald Trump is calling for CNN’s Natasha Bertrand’s termination after that network shared a report claiming the United States’ strikes on Iran didn’t actually destroy nuclear sites.

The story, which cited an internal report from the Pentagon’s intelligence arm and several unnamed insiders, contradicted Trump’s claims that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.”

In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said Bertrand should be “thrown out ‘like a dog.’”

“Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News,” Trump wrote. “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!”

CNN stated that the network stands by Bertrand “100%.”

“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. CNN’s reporting made clear that this was an initial finding that could change with additional intelligence. We have extensively covered President Trump’s own deep skepticism about it. 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.”

Start your day with essential news from Salon.Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Trump’s tirade is the latest reponse from his administration about the leaked report. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth both denied the claims made in CNN’s story, with Hegseth calling the internal report “low confidence.”

“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,” Leavitt told CNN in a statement.