White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump had “strong and compelling evidence” that Iran was going to attack the United States first, defending his decision to launch what she called Operation Epic Fury.
In a post on X, Leavitt rejected the claim that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,” calling it false and saying Trump’s decision was based on evidence compiled from “many sources and factors.” She said the president determined that a joint attack with Israel would reduce the risk to American lives and address what she described as an imminent threat to U.S. national security interests.
Leavitt said Iran is “the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism” and accused the regime of killing Americans, waging war against the United States and continuing to threaten the country up to the launch of the military operation. She also said Iran had been expanding short-range ballistic missile capabilities alongside naval assets while pursuing nuclear weapons despite diplomatic offers from Trump’s negotiators.
Her statement came after Joe Kent said Tuesday that he was stepping down as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, saying he could no longer support what he described as the U.S. push into conflict with Iran. In a resignation letter and X post, Kent wrote, “After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.”
Kent also wrote that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation” and claimed “it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Leavitt directly rejected that argument in her latest post. She said the allegation that Trump acted under the influence of others, including foreign countries, was “insulting and laughable,” and said the president had been consistent for decades in arguing that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon.
Her latest comments followed an earlier post responding to an ABC News report published March 11 under the headline, “FBI warns Iran aspired to attack California with drones in retaliation for war: Alert.”
Leavitt wrote that ABC News should retract the story, arguing it was based on a single email sent to California law enforcement about what she described as an unverified tip. She wrote, “TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did.”
Now, Leavitt is facing backlash on social media over her statements. Taken together, the two posts show Leavitt publicly dismissing one reported threat to the U.S. homeland while later saying Trump had evidence that Iran was preparing to strike first.
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