White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a public demand Sunday for CNN to retract its coverage of congressional briefings regarding President Trump’s military action against Iran.
The controversy centers on CNN’s reporting about which congressional leaders received advance notification of Saturday’s strike operation against Iranian nuclear facilities.
President Trump authorized “Operation: Midnight Hammer” on Saturday, targeting three critical Iranian nuclear installations in what officials described as a surprise military action.
The White House confirmed the successful completion of the operation later that evening through an official announcement.
CNN’s initial report stated that Republican congressional leaders received advance briefings while their Democratic counterparts were left uninformed until after the strikes occurred.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune were briefed ahead of the military action, according to the network’s coverage.
The report claimed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries only learned of the strikes immediately before the public announcement.
Leavitt responded forcefully to these characterizations on the social media platform X, labeling the coverage as inaccurate.
“This is Fake News. The White House made bipartisan courtesy calls to Congressional Leadership and spoke to @SenSchumer before the strike. @RepJeffries could not be reached