ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, March 29 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday hinted at differences among his top aides on their approach to Iran, saying that \u200bhis intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard was “softer” than him on curbing Tehran\u2019s nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, \u200cwho also suggested that a deal could be near to contain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, said “yeah, sure,” when asked by a reporter whether he retained confidence in Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“She’s a \u200blittle bit different in her thought process than me,” Trump said aboard Air \u200bForce One as he returned to Washington after a weekend at his \u2060Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. “But that doesn’t make somebody not available to serve. I would \u200bsay that I’m very strong on the fact that I don’t want Iran to have \u200ba nuclear weapon because if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it immediately. I think she’s probably a little bit softer on that issue, but that’s okay.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump seldom acknowledges debate among top officials \u200bover the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, which is entering its second month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vice President \u200bJD Vance has staked out a cautious approach on conflict and some other top Republicans have privately worried about \u200cthe \u2060conflict’s domestic economic and political costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republican president’s administration has given conflicting messages about the state of Iran’s nuclear program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the run-up to the war, some top administration officials said Iran was weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon, although others \u2014 including the president \u2014 claimed \u200bthat another U.S.-Israeli campaign \u200blast summer had \u2060destroyed its weapons program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, told lawmakers earlier this \u200bmonth that the U.S. intelligence community had “high confidence” that it knows \u200bwhere Iran \u2060keeps its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. At the time, she declined to discuss in a public session whether the U.S. has the means to destroy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An official with close ties \u2060to \u200bGabbard, Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, \u200bearlier this month resigned over the war, saying Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n