Thread by @allenanalysis

Take a close look at this.

NBC News published a major investigation this afternoon. Six reporters. Six named sources inside the US government. The story breaks open something the Trump administration has been hiding for two months.

The damage Iran did to American military bases in the opening phase of the war is far worse than the Pentagon has admitted.

Repairs will cost billions of dollars.

Here is what NBC found.

Iran hit American bases across seven Middle East countries. Iranian missiles and drones struck warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite communications, runways, high-end radar systems, and dozens of American aircraft.

In one strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, Iran destroyed an E-3 Sentry. That is a flying command and control plane. It is one of the most important aircraft in the American military for tracking enemy threats. The tail was blown off. The plane is on the ground in pieces.

In the opening days of the war, an Iranian F-5 fighter jet broke through American air defenses and bombed Camp Buehring in Kuwait. Two US officials told NBC this is the first time an enemy fixed-wing aircraft has hit an American military base in years.

A single Iranian jet got past American air defenses and dropped bombs on an American base.

The Pentagon has not publicly acknowledged that.

Here is what the administration has said publicly during this same time.

President Trump told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business this month that the United States has "totally beaten" Iran "militarily."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the operation "the most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history."

Yesterday in the Oval Office, the President told reporters: "It's not a big war for us, but it's a war."

Now here is the part I want you to sit with.

Six American government sources just told NBC News that the war damage is far worse than the President has admitted. Damage that will cost billions to repair. A flying radar plane destroyed. A fighter jet getting through American air defenses. Strikes across seven countries.

For two months, the public was told the operation was a clean victory.

For two months, the families of US service members were told everything was under control.

For two months, the President called this "not a big war."

Tonight at the Washington Hilton, that same President will sit through the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The Wall Street Journal will receive the Katherine Graham Award for breaking news the administration tried to suppress. The President will leave before the award is presented.

Six NBC reporters and six government sources just made it harder for him to leave the rest of the story buried.

This is why we have a free press.

This is why those 250 journalists signed a petition this week.

This is why anonymous sources still talk.

The President says it is not a big war.

The Pentagon says repairs will cost billions.

One of them is lying.

Never stop connecting the dots.