"The Fake News journalists at CNN and the New York Times should be fired immediately. Bad people with evil intentions," Trump wrote in capital letters on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.
It is extremely rare for a democratic government to explicitly call for the dismissal of journalists.
CNN , The Times , and The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the weekend bombing failed to destroy Iran's underground nuclear facilities, citing officials familiar with a military intelligence report from the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Trump quickly criticized the media reports, calling them "fake news" and insisting that Iran's nuclear program had been set back "essentially for decades."
The Times reported that Trump threatened to sue and demanded an apology.
The newspaper cited her lawyer, David McCraw, who responded in a letter that "there is no need to withdraw the report."
"There will be no apology," Macro added. "We have told the truth as best we can, and we will continue to do so."
Trump has regularly criticized major media outlets, calling them "fake news," and has taken tough action against outlets that criticize government policies.
The US president has been particularly outspoken—sometimes using strong language—in response to reports questioning his account of the extent of damage to Iran's nuclear facilities, which remains unclear.
On June 13, Israel, with US support, launched a 12-day attack on Iran, targeting military and nuclear sites, civilian facilities, and the assassination of military leaders and nuclear scientists. Iran responded by targeting Israeli military and intelligence headquarters with ballistic missiles and drones.
As Iran responded with missile strikes against Israel, inflicting heavy losses, the United States attacked nuclear facilities in Iran on June 22nd. Tehran responded by bombing the U.S. military base at Al Udeid in Qatar. Washington then declared a ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Tehran on June 24th.
There is ambiguity and inconsistency regarding the extent and repercussions of the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities. Tehran has merely stated that they were "severely damaged," claiming that the Israeli-American aggression did not achieve its objectives, without providing further explanation. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv and Washington claim to have destroyed Iran's nuclear program and set it back for years.
