A two-minute video montage of explosions. That’s it.

Each day Yahoo!NBC News since the start of the war with Iran, military officials compile a highlight reel of the biggest, most successful U.S. strikes on Iranian targets from the previous 48 hours. One official described it simply as clips of “stuff blowing up.”

By May 2025, Trump had sat for only 12 formal Presidential Daily Briefs since taking office Wikipedia—less than once a week for a document that’s supposed to be daily.

The consequences are predictable. Three current and one former U.S. official told NBC they have concerns the videos are distorting his judgment—which tracks with why Trump’s public statements keep diverging from what’s actually happening on the ground. Alternet When five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were struck at a base in Saudi Arabia, Trump wasn’t briefed. He found out from the media. Alternet

The White House pushback is what you’d expect. Karoline Leavitt called it “absolutely false.” The DNI called it “laughable.” Nobody denied the two-minute explosion reel.

Tulsi Gabbard has been exploring ways to reformat the briefings to suit Trump’s preferences—one idea floated was making the PDB look and feel like a Fox News broadcast. NBC News

So the commander-in-chief of an active war is getting less intelligence than a cable news viewer, curated to show only the wins, and his intelligence director is trying to make it more like Fox. That’s where we are.

Citations

Katherine Doyle, Courtney Kube, and Dan De Luce. “Trump gets Iran war briefings through strike video montages, U.S. officials say.” NBC News, March 25, 2026. nbcnews.com — Primary source. Four current and former U.S. officials describe the daily two-minute video montage of successful strikes shown to Trump, the concerns about distorted situational awareness, and the incident in which Trump was not briefed on the Saudi airbase strikes.

Natasha Bertrand and Rebecca Shabad. “Gabbard considering ways to revamp Trump’s intelligence briefing.” NBC News, June 1, 2025. nbcnews.com — Five sources describe DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s effort to remake the Presidential Daily Brief to suit Trump’s consumption habits, including the proposal to format it as a Fox News-style broadcast.

Ewan Palmer. “Donald Trump Is Taking Daily Briefings Less Than Once a Week.” Newsweek, May 9, 2025. newsweek.com — Reports Trump had attended only 12 formal PDBs since taking office, less frequently than any recent predecessor, drawing concern from Senate Intelligence Committee members.

Wikipedia contributors. “President’s Daily Brief.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed March 28, 2026. wikipedia.org — History of the PDB from its 1946 origins through present day, including documentation of Trump’s briefing frequency in both terms.

Alternet Staff. “Trump’s daily briefing is a 2-minute video — and even his inner circle is worried.” Alternet, March 25, 2026. alternet.org — Synthesis of the NBC reporting, including Trump’s reaction to the Saudi airbase story, his Truth Social response, and internal concern that “constrained flow of information” leaves him unequipped for critical wartime decisions.