Karoline Leavitt Rages Against The Wall Street Journal Over Scathing Editorial: ‘Classic Fake News’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt raged against The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, first in a social media post and then at an afternoon press briefing.
In an editorial over the leaked Signal groupchat in which senior Trump administration officials discussed plans for an attack on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the Journal took aim at peace envoy Steve Witkoff.
“A real security scandal is that the Signal chat apparently included Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s envoy to wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. Press reports say Mr. Witkoff was receiving these messages on the commercial app while in Moscow,” observed the Journal. “This is security malpractice. Russian intelligence services must be listening to Mr. Witkoff’s every eyebrow flutter. This adds to the building perception that Mr. Witkoff, the President’s friend from New York, is out of his depth in dealing with world crises.”
The editorial also singled out Vice President JD Vance for criticism, arguing that his position in the chat will lead American allies to believe “hat officials at the top of the Trump Administration think the U.S. relationship isn’t based on common interests or values,” but is instead “closer to a protection racket.”
On Wednesday morning, Leavitt took to X to dispute the Journal‘s characterization of Witkoff’s actions.
“@SteveWitkoff was provided a secure line of communication by the U.S. Government, and it was the only phone he had in his possession while in Moscow. If the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board cared about the truth, they could have reached out to our team for comment before running these lies,” she argued. “This is classic Fake News from an outlet clearly determined to knock Steve Witkoff, who is a great patriot working effectively on behalf of President Trump to secure world peace.”
She took the opportunity to slam the newspaper again during a briefing at the White House while answering a question about the administration’s practices when it comes to ensuring lines of communication are secure, saying:
Well, again, first of all, Signal has been an approved app for government use. It’s an encrypted app. And as I said, it’s the most safe and efficient way of communicating, especially when people can’t be in a SCIF or inside a room physically together. I think as the president said yesterday, he wishes that everybody could be in the room and it’s our goal to ensure that everybody can be. But again, no classified information was discussed in this chat and any time classified information is discussed amongst high-level officials across this administration, secure lines of communication are used.
Including, by the way, our special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who I understand The Wall Street Journal erroneously reported that he was on this signal chat on a personal device while in Moscow. That is absolutely false. Steve Witkoff did not have his personal device, nor did he have his government device with him. He was given a classified, protected server by the United States Government, and he was very careful about his communications when he was in Russia. So rest assured to the American public, this administration is taking every precaution when it comes to protecting our national security. And that’s why the American people re-elected this president, because they know that our national security is in good hands with the president of the United States.
Watch above via Fox News.
