President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand to be fired after she reported that recent U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites may have only set back the program by a few months.
“Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out ‘like a dog,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump accused Bertrand of trying to “destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad.” He said she should be removed from CNN and slammed her on-air presence: “She doesn’t have what it takes to be an on camera correspondent, not even close. FIRE NATASHA!”
The report Bertrand cited was an early internal U.S. intelligence assessment that contradicted Trump’s claims the strikes had “totally destroyed” Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities. While multiple outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post, also reported on the same assessment, Trump zeroed in on Bertrand, accusing her of helping ruin CNN’s reputation.
“It’s people like her who destroyed the reputation of a once great Network,” Trump posted.
Despite Trump’s outrage, CNN defended Bertrand and her reporting. In a statement to The Hill, a network spokesperson said: “CNN stands 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.”
They added that the report clearly noted it was a preliminary finding and could change with new information. “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.”
Trump and his team continue to push Israel’s version of the outcome, which claims the attacks will delay Iran’s nuclear program by years — a stark contrast to the initial U.S. intelligence cited by Bertrand.
