Washington DC - President Donald Trump continued his meltdown over CNN and New York Times reports that cast doubts on the impact of US airstrikes on Iran, calling for journalists to be dismissed.

"Fake news reporters from CNN & The New York Times should be fired, immediately!!! Bad people with evil intentions," Trump wrote in all caps on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.

CNN and the NY Times, along with Washington Post, earlier in the week reported that Sunday's unprecedented attack on Iran failed to destroy underground nuclear facilities, citing officials familiar with the military intelligence report from the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency.

The president and members of his administration have been railing against the embarrassing revelations, blasting them as "fake news" and maintaining with no evidence that Iran's nuclear program had been "obliterated."

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The Times reported that Trump had threatened it with a lawsuit and demanded an apology.

The paper cited its lawyer, David McCraw, as responding in a letter that "no retraction is needed."

"No apology will be forthcoming," he added. "We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so."

The scandal over the unprovoked US attack on Iran continued Thursday, with Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth complaining that the media wasn't sufficiently enthusiastic about the bombing campaign.

Hegseth also joined State Secretary Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in a closed-doors intelligence briefing session for senators, during which Democrats accused the Trump administration of carrying out half-baked plans without any discernible goal.