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Saturday, August 23, 2025
US defense secretary fires general whose agency contradicted Trump on effectiveness of US strikes on Iran
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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes angered US President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and a White House official.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The firing, first reported by The Washington Post, is the latest upheaval in military leadership and in the country’s intelligence agencies, and comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media.
The assessment found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the bombings, contradicting assertions from Trump and from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel had on June 13 launched a bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, missile production and military leadership, saying the operation was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state. During the ensuing 12-day war, the US struck three key Iranian nuclear sites.
In a news conference following the US strikes, Hegseth slammed media reports indicating that the strikes were not as successful as Trump had said, and lambasted the press for what the defense secretary described as an anti-military bias. However, Hegseth did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of Iranian nuclear production facilities.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the US Air Force’s top uniformed officer, Gen. David Allvin, planned to retire two years early. And the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — which is responsible for coordinating the work of 18 intelligence agencies, including DIA — announced that it would slash its staff and budget.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.