CNN anchor Jake Tapper defended his colleague Natasha Bertrand after President Trump called for her firing in response to her reporting on leaked intelligence relating to U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last weekend.
“Today, President Trump and his administration are going after shooting the messengers in an increasingly ugly way,” Tapper said Wednesday on his evening newscast.
“They’re calling journalists ‘fake news’ for true stories. They’re calling for an excellent CNN reporter, Natasha Bertrand, to be fired, which is preposterous,” he added.
“The Trump administration is also accusing any news media who reports on this intel assessment as not being patriotic.”
The anchor’s comments were first highlighted by Mediaite.
Trump in a Truth Social post earlier in the day called out Bertrand by name and said she should be fired by the network over her reporting showing Saturday’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites set back Tehran’s nuclear program by only a few months.
Trump and his allies have sought to discredit news reports and journalists, including at The New York Times, The Washington Post and NBC News, who have reported on the leaked preliminary assessment.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, CNN said it stood behind Bertrand’s reporting.
“We do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest,” the network said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
