‘100% FAKE NEWS’: Karoline Leavitt Rages Over ‘PREPOSTEROUS’ Report Trump Admin Didn’t Prepare for Closure of Hormuz Strait

(Associated Press)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt raged over what she described as a “PREPOSTEROUS” CNN report about the Trump administration’s planning for its ongoing operation in Iran on Friday.

According to the story, which cited “multiple sources familiar with the matter,” “the Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes.”

“Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes, according to three sources familiar with the closed-door session,” reported Zachary Cohen, Phil Mattingly, Kevin Liptak, and Kylie Atwood. “The reason, multiple sources said, was administration officials believed closing the strait would hurt Iran more than the US — a view that was bolstered by Iran’s empty threats to act in the strait after US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth rejected the reporting as “patently ridiculous” during a Friday morning press briefing, and Leavitt piled on shortly thereafter.

“This story is 100% FAKE NEWS. CNN decided to run this garbage based on three anonymous ‘sources familiar with discussions.’ This is despite the fact that myself, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State, and multiple lawmakers (who were actually present for the recent classified briefing) have directly disputed this false reporting,” began Leavitt in an X post that continued along those lines:

THE TRUTH: The Pentagon has been planning for Iran’s desperate and reckless closure of the Strait of Hormuz for DECADES, and it has been part of the Trump Administration’s planning well before Operation Epic Fury was ever launched.

The idea that Chairman Cain and Secretary Hegseth weren’t prepared for this possibility is PREPOSTEROUS. The President was fully briefed on it, and a goal of the Operation itself, to annihilate the terrorist Iranian regime’s navy, missiles, drone production infrastructure, and other threat capabilities is quite literally intended to deprive them of their ability to close the Strait.

President Trump will not allow rogue Iranian terrorists to stop the freedom of navigation and the free flow of energy.

Wiping out these terrorists who indiscriminately target civilians and attempt to hold the global economy hostage is part of the ongoing noble U.S. mission.

The Fake News is working overtime to discredit President Trump, his Administration, and our U.S. Military, all of whom are working 24/7 to eliminate the threat of the Iranian regime.

It’s a complete disgrace to witness this from the media, and we will keep fighting back against it.

The administration’s top spokesperson also shared statements from two Republican Senators disputing the claim that lawmakers had been told about this oversight.

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