As President Donald Trump weighs in on the Middle East crisis, dropping all indications that he may strike Iran, reports claimed that he is relying on a high-profile group of Cabinet picks and not those who are supposed to be advising him by the virtue of their posts: Defense secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi

President Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, appeared to be at odds over whether Iran was close to having a nuclear weapon, but Gabbard said the two leaders were saying "the same thing.

President Trump said Monday that he disagrees with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's assessment from a few months ago that Iran is not currently trying to build a nuclear weapon and has not been doing so since 2003.