WaPo publishes Iranian officials’ take on bomb damage to undercut Trump

The mainstream media is desperate to spin President Donald Trump’s successful Iranian bombing into a bad thing, even going so far as to spitefully publish the statements of Iranian officials.

John Hudson at the Washington Post published a “scoop” on intercepted communications, in which Iranian officials downplayed the severity of the bombings, wondering why they were “less devastating than expected.” This was likely intentionally done to create doubt as to the real efficacy of the bombing run, ordered by the president.

Look:

SCOOP: The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected, per four soures

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) June 29, 2025

“SCOOP: The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected, per four sources,” Hudson wrote.

The communication, intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as to why the strikes directed by Trump were not as destructive and extensive as they anticipated, per sources

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) June 29, 2025

“The communication, intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as to why the strikes directed by Trump were not as destructive and extensive as they anticipated, per sources,” he added in a follow-up.

The Trump administration did not dispute the existence of the intercepted communications, which have not been previously reported, but strenuously disagreed with the Iranians’ conclusions and cast doubt on their ability to assess the damage at the three nuclear facilities… pic.twitter.com/MKyRcHa5oS

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) June 29, 2025

“The Trump administration did not dispute the existence of the intercepted communications, which have not been previously reported, but strenuously disagreed with the Iranians’ conclusions and cast doubt on their ability to assess the damage at the three nuclear facilities targeted in the U.S. operation,” he noted, adding a screen grab of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s response.

“It’s shameful that the Washington Post is helping people commit felonies by publishing out-of-context leaks. The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over,” she stated in response to the story.

X users reacted to the WaPo “scoop”:

I intercepted that too. It’s true.

— idrawrobots (@idrawrobots) June 29, 2025

“per four (unnamed) sources”

— Andrew Branca Show (@LawSelfDefense) June 29, 2025

This is not journalism, per what appears to be about 137 sources and counting.

— Dr, Esquire, Revd Mal (@aimtomisb3hav3) June 29, 2025

Wow! I am sure those “senior Iranian officials” would never think to put out false chatter to try and deceive those they know for sure are listening.

— Winston Finch (@TheWinstonFinch) June 29, 2025

This kind of anecdotal reporting suggests that @washingtonpost is doing propaganda work for the “Forever Wars” lobby.

— Naturalized View (@NaturalizedView) June 29, 2025