The denial-non-denial drew swift mockery.
CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene highlighted a key quote from the report, "The White House acknowledged the existence of the assessment but said they disagreed with it.”
Rolling Stone politics reporter Nikki McCann Ramírez quipped, "There are moments when you can very clearly tell that Karoline Leavitt is a 27 year old and this right here is one of them."
"I’m sorry, so she is admitting the assessment says what it says, she is admitting it’s so sensitive that they classified it as Top Secret, but they’re claiming it’s wrong? Are we classifying false information?" asked national security lawyer Bradly P. Moss.
"One problem with 'everyone around Trump has to talk like Trump' is that the U.S. government is now loaded with officials incapable of basic communication. This is simply not a credible statement, and that's without taking into account that Karoline Leavitt lies about everything all the time," wrote defense attorney Max Kennerly on Bluesky.
"Don't miss this incredible spin from WH press sec Karoline Leavitt, who claims the US intel assessment is 'flat-out wrong,'" mocked Status News' Jon Passantino.
"Deeply unserious people," blasted film and television editor Jennifer Van Goethem.
"Obliterated, not," joked former White House reporter Ron Fournier.
Jim Roberts, contributing editor to The 74, agreed, citing Trump's characterization, "So, not 'totally obliterated.'"
He also posted a photo of former President George W. Bush standing below a "Mission Accomplished" banner in 2003.
"It gets even better*: Karoline Leavitt is now saying this assessment is 'flat-out wrong' and leaked by a 'low-level loser,'" cited Stephen Rea, senior researcher at the Critical Internet Studies Institute. "*'Better' for people who like dark schadenfreude. Tbc, all of this is awful, hundreds of Iranian and Israeli civilians were killed, and it’s all indefensible."
Author Don Winslow commented, "Notice the statement from @PressSec Karoline Leavitt does NOT say the assessment is fake or wrong. Its specific language actually confirms it is true. NOTHING was 'obliterated' Trump hyped it and lied like he does everything."
However, Nadav Pollak, lecturer at Reichman University on the Middle East, criticized, "I have to say the speed in which US intel agencies leak to the press is truly insane. Now to the content of the assessment - I find it hard to rely on assessments without understanding the underlying intel sources. Is it based on Sigint? Visint? BDA analysis? (1) . Second, with all due respect to the DIA, isn’t it the same agency that 'assessed' that Kyiv will fall in 15 days? Or that Israel won’t be able to defeat Hezbollah? Or that Israel won’t be able to operate freely in #Iran? Maybe we should doubt more their assessments (2)"
He urged folks to beware of "assessments," particularly when being leaked to the press.
"And BTW, from my experience, sometimes it takes weeks for the country being bombed to even understand what damage was done, so I don't think we have definitive answers now. Wait several weeks before you deem it a failure (4)," he added.
