White House Press Secretary Leavitt dismisses the CNN Iran report as fake news
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White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt on Friday denied a CNN report that President Donald Trump’s security team was not prepared for Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz after US strikes.
“This story is 100% FAKE NEWS,” Leavitt wrote on X, accusing CNN of relying on anonymous sources and defending the administration’s planning for such a situation.
Leavitt said the Pentagon had been planning a possible Iranian shutdown for decades and said the threat was part of management planning before the start of Operation Epic Fury.
“The idea that chairman Cain and Secretary Hegseth were not prepared for this is probably PREPOSTEROS,” he continued. “The President has been fully informed about it, and the purpose of the Operation itself, to destroy the Iranian regime’s terrorist forces, missiles, drone production infrastructure, and other threat capabilities is really intended to deprive them of their ability to close the Strait.”
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt takes questions during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on March 10, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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The Strait of Hormuz has become the center of this conflict because almost one-fifth of the world’s oil exports pass through the waterway.
CNN reported Thursday that Trump’s security team “failed to fully account for the potential consequences of what some officials described as the worst situation now facing the administration.”
The report cited anonymous sources “familiar with the matter.”
A navy ship is seen sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway through which most of the world’s oil and gas flows on March 1, 2026. (Sahar AL ATTAR / AFP via Getty Images)
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Leavitt’s criticism was echoed by Republican lawmakers and administration officials who called the CNN report false.
“As chairman of the Intelligence Committee, let me be clear: whoever leaked this lied,” Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote about X. “CNN should check the facts.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also blasted the report during remarks at the Pentagon on Friday, calling it “fake news from CNN” and “ridiculous.”
Secretary of the Army Pete Hegseth speaks during the First America Counter Cartel Conference at the US Southern Command headquarters March 5, 2026, in Doral, Florida. The conference was held to address terrorism with regional security and defense leaders from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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“For decades, Iran has threatened ships in the Strait of Hormuz. This is what they always do, they take hostages in the strait,” he added. “CNN doesn’t think we thought that through.”
CNN released an explanation of the matter on Friday, which reads, “This story has been updated to reflect additional developments and to clarify that senior Trump administration officials are informing lawmakers of military plans to deal with major disruptions in the Strait, according to one official, but multiple sources familiar with the session said there was no indication that any solutions were imminent.”
“We stand by our reporting,” CNN told Fox News Digital when reached for comment on Friday.
CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson said at X they “represent our journalism.”
The White House has repeatedly clashed with big news this week over the coverage of the Iran conflict.
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Leavitt asked ABC News to retract Thursday’s story that the FBI had officially warned Iran that it could try to attack California with drones.
He called the report “false information to deliberately scare the American people,” adding that the story was based on “a single email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single unconfirmed tip.”
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ABC News has started update its story with an editor’s note stating, “The FBI sent a full version of the warning to California authorities, including that the information is not verified. A later version of this story has been updated with the full statement.”
Fox News’ Alexander Hall and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
