By Jennifer Hansler, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — When US President Donald Trump addressed the American people on Tuesday night, he claimed that Iran is “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”

That assertion is not backed up by US intelligence, sources told CNN.

It was one of several claims about threats from Iran made publicly by the Trump administration as it lays the groundwork for possible military action, even as they continue to say the US president wants to reach a diplomatic solution.

An unclassified assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 2025 said that Iran could develop a “militarily-viable” intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.”

According to two sources, the claim that Iran will soon have a missile capable of hitting the US is not backed up by intelligence — there is no intelligence to suggest that Iran is pursuing an ICBM program to hit the US at this time, the sources said.

Iran does, however, possess short range ballistic missiles that could threaten US bases and personnel in the region, as the administration has warned.

Three sources told CNN there has been no change in recent assessments about Iran’s intercontinental ballistic missile aspirations.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly responded to CNN’s reporting, saying “President Trump is absolutely right to highlight the grave concern posed by Iran, a country that chants ‘death to America,’ possessing intercontinental ballistic missiles.”

The State Department did not reply to a request for comment before publication.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Trump said that he is “not happy” with ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran over that country’s nuclear program, saying that Iran was “not willing to give us what we have to have.”

He said he had not “made a final decision” on whether he would proceed with military strikes, saying that there would be additional discussions.

The US has amassed its largest collection of military hardware in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 as Trump has repeatedly suggested he might take military action against Iran.

The matter of Iranian missile technology did not come up in a briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and the “Gang of Eight” congressional leaders this week, sources familiar with the briefing said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview released this week that his country was not developing long-range missiles.

“We have deliberately limited the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometers,” he told India Today TV, saying the missiles were for defense.

Pressed on Trump’s claim that Iran could “soon” have missiles that could reach the US, Rubio said he would not speculate “as to how far away they are,” but said Iran is “certainly” trying to achieve intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“You’ve seen them increasing the range of the missiles they have now, and clearly they are headed in the pathway to one day being able to develop weapons that cou

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN

(CNN) — Members of Congress are raising questions after a photograph they say shows Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick alongside Jeffrey Epstein on the late sex offender’s private island was briefly removed from the Justice Department’s website.

The image had been hosted in the department’s online repository of Epstein-related files uploaded in late January under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

At one point, the original page containing the photograph on Justice.gov returned an error message, though a version captured by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine on January 31, 2026, remained accessible online and included the photograph.

The page has since been restored and a Justice Department spokesperson told CNN, “This image was part of a batch of files that were flagged for nudity. The batch of thousands of images was pulled for review and is being uploaded with necessary redactions on a rolling basis. No files are being deleted.”

Lutnick has not commented on the image. The Commerce Department and Lutnick did not return repeated requests for comment from CNN. The White House did not respond to a CNN request for comment on Friday.

But several members of Congress — including at least one Republican on the House Oversight Committee — are pressing for answers about the temporary removal of the image.

On X on Thursday, Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican member of the House Oversight Committee, wrote of the photo, “Howard Lutnick should take questions from the Oversight committee.”

On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters today that Lutnick would testify to Congress about his relationship with Epstein.

“Howard would go in and say whatever he has to say,” Trump told CNN’s Kristen Holmes. “He’s a very innocent guy, he’s doing a good job.”

Earlier this month, Lutnick testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, during which he was pressed about his interactions with Epstein. Communications revealed in the latest release by the Justice Department undercut Lutnick’s previous claims of cutting off ties with Epstein in 2005, before Epstein was under investigation for and later convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

During his testimony, Lutnick said he had in fact visited Epstein’s private island for lunch with his family while on vacation in 2012.

Numerous other members of Congress have also raised questions about the recently-surfaced photo.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said the initial removal of the photo implied the Justice Department is involved in the “stupidest cover up in history.” Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who co-authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, said t

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Por Adam Cancryn, CNN

El presidente Donald Trump planteó este viernes la posibilidad de una “toma de control amistosa” de Cuba, al afirmar que el Gobierno de la isla ha estado en conversaciones con su Gobierno sobre el futuro del país.

“Podríamos muy bien terminar teniendo una toma de control amistosa de Cuba después de muchos, muchos años”, dijo Trump a reporteros en la Casa Blanca. “Están pasando por grandes problemas y podríamos muy bien hacer algo bueno, creo, algo muy positivo para las personas que fueron expulsadas, o peor aún, de Cuba y que vive aquí”.

Trump no especificó cómo sería esa “toma de control” ni ofreció un cronograma para alguna acción potencial contra el país.

Las declaraciones del presidente se produjeron pocos días después de que soldados cubanos abrieran fuego contra una embarcación, que según La Habana estaba intentando infiltrarse en la isla, y en la que murieron cuatro personas, incluido un ciudadano estadounidense.

Funcionarios de Trump investigan aún el incidente, el cual el secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio, calificó de “altamente inusual” y no como parte de una operación oficial.

Trump y sus asesores han criticado al Ggobierno cubano en el pasado, intentando aumentar la presión sobre sus líderes en las semanas desde que Estados Unidos forzó un cambio de liderazgo en Venezuela.

“Están en un gran problema, no tienen dinero, no tienen nada ahora mismo”, afirmó Trump. “Pero están hablando con nosotros”.

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