Gabbard released the warning video at a sensitive time when Israeli officials were lobbying Trump at the White House to back an Israeli attack on Iran. Trump and his allies interpreted Gabbard's message as a warning to Trump not to greenlight Israel's actions.

Tulsi Gabbard told the House Intelligence Committee that Iran “is not building a nuclear weapon.” The director of national intelligence made the assessment based on deep research and intelligence-gathering from the massive conglomerate of spy agencies she oversees,